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ELEMENTARY COMPOSITION 



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ELEMENTARY COMPOSITION 



BY 

DOROTHEA F/CANFIELD V*^**" 

FORMERLY SECRETARY OF THE HORACE MANN SCHOOLS 
AND 

GEORGE R. CARPENTER 

PROFESSOR OF RHETORIC AND ENGLISH COMPOSITION 
IN COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY 



THE MACMILLAN COMPANY 

LONDON :'MACMILLAN & CO. Ltd. 
1906 

All rights reserved 






Two 
flCL 

COPY 0. 



Copyright, 1906, 
By THE MACMILLAN COMPANY. 



Set up and electrotyped. Published August, 1906. 



Norfoooo $rf82 

J. S. Cushinp & Co. — Berwick & Smith Co. 

Norwood, Mass., U.S.A. 



o 
en 



\ 



PREFACE 

The authors have endeavored to provide an unusu- 
ally rich collection of material for work in composition, 
— material well arranged, well graded, well adapted 
for use in the seventh and eighth grades, and accom- 
panied by a clear and suggestive statement of the 
grammatical and rhetorical principles involved. For 
skilled advice and assistance in connection with Chap- 
ters II-VI we are greatly indebted to Miss Jennie F. 
Owens, of the Jersey City Training School. 

D. F. C. 

G. R. C. 
New York City, July, 1906. 



CONTENTS 



PAGE 

Table of Sections ix 

Table of Exercises . . xiii 

CHAPTER 

I. Introduction 1 

II. The Sentence 4 

III. The Paragraph . 29 

IV. Words 49 

Y. Condensation, Expansion, and Paraphrase . 69 

VI. Whole Compositions ; Outlines .... 88 

VII. Oral Composition 102 

VIII. The Diary 106 

IX. The Letter 112 

X. Xarration 137 

XL Description . 155 

XII. Xarration (continued) 188 

XIII. Exposition 199 

XIV. Argument 214 

XV. Secretarial Work 225 

XVI. Versification 234 

XVII. Punctuation 247 

Appendix : 

A. Rules for Spelling . . ... . . .269 

B. Model of Constitution 271 

Index 273 

vii 



TABLE OF SECTIONS 

[The roman numerals refer to chapters ; the arabic, to sections.] 

HAPTER PAGE 

I. Introduction 1 

II. The Sentence : 1. Phrases, clauses, and sentences. 
— 2. Simple, complex, and compound sentences. — 
3. Variety in the use of sentences. — 4. Periodic 
sentences. — 5. Bad sentences. — 6. The " comma" 
sentence. — 7. Sentences without unity. — 8. The 
formless sentence 4 

III. The Paragraph : 9. The use of the paragraph. — 
10. The beginning. — 11. Unity in the paragraph. 
— 12. The body of the paragraph. — 13. Too 
many paragraphs. — 14. The end of a paragraph. 
— 15. Quotations 29 

IY. Words: 16. How we learn words. — 17. The size 
and character of the English vocabulary. — 18. In- 
creasing one's vocabulary. — 19. Synonyms. — 
20. Accuracy in the use of words. — 21. Figures 
of speech. — 22. Mistakes in the use of words. — 
23. Spelling. — 24. Slang. — 25. Errors in the forms 

of words .49 

V. Condensation, Expansion, and Paraphrase : 
26. Writing in which the ideas are already at 
hand. — 27. Condensation. — 28. Method in con- 
densation. — 29. Expansion. — 30. The purpose of 
expansion. — 31. Paraphrase. — 32. Paraphrase of 
complete compositions 69 

VI. Whole Compositions ; Outlines : 33. Whole com- 
positions. — 34. Outlines. — 35. Essentials in a 
whole composition. — 36. How to plan an essay . 88 



X TABLE OF SECTIONS 

CHAPTER PAGE 

VII. Oral Composition : 37. The great essential. — 
38. How to be heard. — 39. Pronunciation. — 
40. A plan necessary 102 

VIII. The Diary: 41. The value of a diary. — 42. Con- 
tents of a diary. — 43. Imaginary diaries. — 
44. The class diary 106 

IX. The Letter : 45. Various kinds of letters. — 
46. Friendly letters. — 47. Letters of social inter- 
course. — 48. Formal invitations. — 49. Tele- 
grams. — 50. Business letters. — 51. Notices. — 
52. Appeals. — 53. Petitions. — 54. Advertise- 
ments 112 

X. Narration : 55. The essentials of a good narrative. 
— 56. Autobiography. — 57. Biography. — 58. His- 
tory. — 59. Plain reporting of facts. — 60. Con- 
versation 137 

XL Description: 61. Observation. — 62. General sci- 
entific description. — 63. Specific scientific de- 
scription. — 64. Technical terms. — 65. Literary 
description. — 66. Description of people. — 
67. Longer description. — 68. Description of con- 
ditions. — 69. Description by contrast. — 70. De- 
scription of events. — 71. Picture making of scenes 
of action. — 72. Travel. — 73. Descriptions of an 
hour . . l'V> 

XII. Narration (Continued): 74. Historical stories. — 
75. Fictitious stories. — 76. The beginning. — 
77. The ending. — 78. The body . . .188 

XlII. Exposition: 79. General principles. — 80. Explana- 
tion of a material process. — 81. Explanation of 
games. — 82. Exposition of abstracl ideas. — 
83. Imposition by example. — 84. Exposition by 
repetition. — 85. Exposition by contrast. — 86. Ex- 
position by a figure of speech . . . .199 



TABLE OF SECTIONS xi 

CHAPTER PAGE 

XIV. Argument: 87. General principle. — 88. The intro- 
duction. — 89. The reasons. — 90. The outline. — 
91. The plea. — 92. Other forms .... 214 

XV. Secretarial Work (93) 225 

XVI. Versification (94) 234 

XVII. Punctuation : 95. General theory of punctuation. 

— 96. The period. — 97. The question mark. — 
98. The exclamation point. — 99. The semicolon. 

— 100. The colon.— 101. The comma. — 102. Pa- 
rentheses and brackets. — 103. The dash. — 
104. The apostrophe. — 105. Quotation marks. — 
106. Italics. — 107. The hyphen. — 108. Capitals. 
109. List of common abbreviations . . . 247 



TABLE OF EXERCISES 

Chapter II. The Sentence 

EXERCISES PAGES 

1-3. Distinguishing and constructing phrases, clauses, and 

sentences 5, 6 

4-13. Distinguishing and constructing simple, complex, and 

compound sentences . 7-13 

14, 15. Variety in the form and length of sentences . 15, 16 

16. Distinguishing the periodic sentence .... 19 
17-21. Constructing the periodic sentence . . . 19-21 

22-24. Distinguishing and correcting the "comma " sentence 22, 23 
25. Correcting sentences that are without unity . . 24 
26, 27. Reconstructing formless sentences . . . 26-28 

Chapter III. The Paragraph 

28. Noting the force of topic sentences .... 33 

29. Supplying topic sentences 34 

30. Writing short paragraphs from topic sentences . . 35 

31. Noting when and why paragraphs lack unity . . 36 

32. Making notes for paragraphs suggested by topic sen- 

tences 40 

33. Correcting bad division into paragraphs ... 41 

34. Making notes for paragraphs suggested by summary 

sentences 43 

35. Making summary sentences for paragraphs indicated 

by notes 44 

36-38. Use of quotation marks 46-48 

Chapter IV. Words 

39-45. Increasing the vocabulary 51, 52 

46-52. Synonyms 53-57 

xiii 



XIV 



TABLE OF EXERCISES 



EXERCISES 



53. Distinguishing between similar words 

54-60. Metaphors and similes 

61-62. Slang 

63-66. Errors in the forms of words 



PAGE8 

. 59 
60-62 
. 64 

65-67 



Chapter V. Condensation, Expansion, and 
Paraphrase 

67. Condensing paragraphs 70 

68-69. Condensing longer passages .... 75-77 

70. Expanding short and suggestive statements . . 79 

71. Expanding for the sake of clearness .... 80 
72-73. Paraphrasing short passages .... 82-84 

74. , Paraphrasing complete poems 87 



Chapter VI. Whole Compositions ; Outlines 
75-76. Preparing outlines 96, 101 

Chapter VII. Oral Composition 



Chapter VIII. The Diary 
77. Imaginary diaries .... 



109 



Chapter IX. The Letter 



78. 


Friendly letters . 


79. 


Letters of social intercourse 


80. 


Formal invitations 


81. 


Telegrams 


82-84. 


Business letters 


85-87. 


Xotices .... 


88. 


Appeals 


89. 


Petitions 


90-91. 


Advertisements . 



. 118 
. 121 
. 123 
. IlU 
126, 128, 129 
131, 132 
. 134 
. 135 
135, 136 



TABLE OF EXERCISES 



XV 



Chapter X. Narration 



EXERCISES 

92. 
93. 

94-96. 
97. 

98. 



Fables . . . . 
Autobiographical sketches 
Biographical sketches 
Historical sketches . 
Reporting facts 
99. Fables told by conversation 
100-101. Imaginary conversations . 



PAGES 

. 138 

. 141 

142, 143 

. 150 

. 152 

. 153 

153, 154 



Chapter XI. Description 

102. Practice in accurate observation 

103-104. General scientific descript 

105-107. Specific scientific description 

108-109. Literary description . 

110-111. Description of people and 

112. Longer descriptions . 

113, 114. Description of conditions 

115. Description by contrast 

116. Description of events 
117, 118. Picture making of scenes 

119. Sketches of travel 

120. Descriptions of an hour 



-vation 






. 157 


;ion . 
ion . 






. 162 
. 163, 164 
. 168, 169 


. animals 






170, 171 
. 173 

175, 176 
. 177 
. 179 


of action 






180, 181 
. 185 

. 187 



121. 



122. 
123. 
124. 
125. 
126. 



Chapter XII. Narrative {Continued) 

Historical stories 190, 191 

Fictitious stories 193 

Completing stories, when the beginning is given . 194 
Completing stories, when the ending is given . . 196 
Completing stories, when the plot is suggested . 198 



Chapter XIII. Exposition 

127-129. Explanation of processes 203, 204 

130-131. Explanation of games, sports, etc 206 



xvi TABLE OF EXERi T8E8 






L82. Explanation by comparison and example 

133. Explanation (general) . . . . . .211 

134. Explanation of proverbs and quotations . . . 212 

135. Explanations of national festivals .... 213 

Chapteb XIV. Argumi 

136. Statement and definition of subject . . ... 
L3T. Pie - 

138. Argument (general) - 

139. Giving reasons for personal preference . . . - 

Chapi bb KV. Secre i iri u. Wore 
llo-lll. Minutes, official letters, etc - 

Cn \ri i ii XVI. VeRSIJ k a i i"\ 

142. Arranging verse in stanza form . . . . ' 

Completing rhyin< 241 

143 11 1. Putting fables Lnto ven - 

1 15. Writing Letters, invitations, and Btories in 



Chapter XVII. Punctuation 



1 16. The semicolon ...... 

1 17. The colon and the semicolon . 

l l v . The comma 

1 in. Punctuation of direct quotations 

Pond nation of partial quotal ioi 
151. Punctuation of quotations within quotations 

Capita] letters 

Review of punctuation .... 









ELEMENTAEY COMPOSITION 



ELEMENTARY COMPOSITION 

CHAPTER I 
INTRODUCTION 

For several years you have written, from time to 
time, short compositions. These have been letters, or 
stories, or descriptions, or explanations of ideas you 
had in mind, or summaries of your lessons in history 
or geography. You have now come to a point in your 
education where it will be well for you to take up 
composition as a separate subject, studying it as you 
would geography or history. Let us begin by asking 
ourselves what it is. What is composition? 

What geography and history are, it is easy to see. 
Geography is the subject that has to do with the world 
as a place. We learn the names that men have given 
to the parts of the world, large and small ; and, with 
regard to each country, what are its climate and the 
nature of its soil, its products and manufactures, its 
cities, and mountains, and rivers. History is the sub- 
ject that has to do with the actions of the inhabitants 
of the world. We learn what were the chief nations 
that have existed or still exist, what were the impor- 
tant events that took place in each nation, as time went 
on, and who were the great men that shaped its desti- 
nies. Any one who knew about all the main events in 

B 1 



2 ELEMENTARY COMPOSITION 

the life of all the great nations would be a very learned 
person indeed ; but you have already read or studied 
some very important things in the history of Greece or 
Rome, or the United States, and thus have a general 
idea of the history of one or more of these nations. 

Since the beginning of time men have been talk- 
ing to one another, and many thousand years ago 
they found a way of communicating with one an- 
other by written signs or letters; and not so many 
hundred years ago they discovered printing, which 
enables one person to communicate with many people 
in different places at the same time. All over the 
world, then, people are speaking words or writing 
words, and other people are hearing or reading these 
words and trying to understand the thoughts intended 
to be expressed by them. We have various words to 
express combinations of spoken or written words, such 
as talk or conversation, speech, oration, address, lecture, 
sermon, letter, telegram, essay, novel, poem, and very 
many others. 

Now, it is obvious that a person may wish to express 
his ideas and yet not be successful in doing so. Words 
may be combined so as to express thoughts well or to 
express them badly. Composition is the subject that has 
to do with the best expression of thought by language. 

But how, then, does composition differ from gram- 
mar ? Grammar is really a part — a small part — of 
composition. Each language has certain customs with 
regard to the forms which words have under various 
circumstances, and to the order in which the parts of 
a sentence are placed, as well as a system of names for 



INTRODUCTION 3 

different kinds of words and sentences and parts of 
sentences. This body of customs or rules we call 
grammar. But grammar takes into account mainly 
the form of a sentence, and pays little or no attention 
to its meaning. Composition, on the other hand, deals 
mainly with words as expressions of thought. 

In our study of composition, then, we are to learn 
how to combine or group our words so as best to ex- 
press our ideas. There are three ways of gaining skill 
in composition : — 

1. By following a rule or theory. 

2. By practice. 

3. By imitation. 

There are certain rules in . composition which are 
based on the experience of many writers and speakers. 
These you will learn as we go on. These rules will 
not be of very much value to you, however, unless you 
put them into practice. If you want to learn how to 
swim, you can get the general idea from a friend or a 
teacher ; but that general idea will not enable you to 
swim. You must learn to swim by swimming. In the 
same way, you must learn composition by composing. 
Keep trying to express your ideas ; let your teachers 
and friends tell you how clearly they understand you, 
take their criticism to heart, and try again. 

The third way to learn composition is by imitation, 
and that is a very good way indeed. When you think 
that some one else writes well, try to write like him or 
her. Imitation is the greatest possible help in learning 
how to do anything well. 



CHAPTER II 

THE SENTENCE 

1. Phrases, Clauses, and Sentences. — Composition 
means putting together or combining or grouping. The 
things that we combine are words. There are three 
simple ways in which, according to the customs or gram- 
mar of our language, words are combined : — 

1. Into phrases. 

2. Into clauses. 

3. Into sentences. 

A phrase is a group of words that does not contain a 
subject' and a predicate. 

Examples. On the way. In the morning. By the fire. 
Sailing over the sea. 

A clause is a group of words that contains a subject 
and a predicate. A clause in which the words do not 
make complete sense is called a dependent or subor- 
dinate clause. 

Examples. If I could go. When the sun rose. While 
I was speaking. Which I saw. 

A sentence is a group of words containing at least one 
subject and one predicate and making complete sense. 
A sentence is thus a single clause or a group of clauses. 

4 



THE SENTENCE 5 

In a group of clauses, a clause in which the sense is com- 
plete is called an independent or principal clause. 

Examples. He started at once. If I could, I should 
start at once. When the sun rose, the mist disappeared. 
While I was speaking, the rain fell heavily. 

Neither the phrase nor the dependent clause can be 
used by itself. Each is only a part of a sentence. The 
first rule of English composition is that we must group 
our words in sentences. 

Exception. Exclamatory words, phrases, or clauses, 
such as, Fudge ! Silence in the ranks ! If I could only go ! 

Exercise i. — Which are dependent clauses ? phrases ? sentences ? 
Fill out the phrases and clauses so that they become sentences. 

1. A little after noon. 2. I found the sea very calm. 3. 
If we had kept on board. 4. We should have been all safe. 
5. Taking off my outer clothes. 6. When I came to the 
ship. 7. How to get on board. 8. I spied a small piece of 
rope. 9. By the help of that rope. 10. That all the ship's 
provisions were dry. 11. When this was done. 12. Putting 
them together in the form of a raft. 13. I filled the chests 
with provisions. 14. Toward the land. 15. My raft went 
very well. 16. In the mouth of a little river. 17, On the 
right shore of the creek. 18. I made a tent with the sail. 
19. Near the sea. 20. Protected from the heat of the sun. 

Exercise 2. — Divide the following passages into sentences. 
Supply the omitted capitals and the periods or question marks. 

1. How late the chimney-swifts are abroad I cannot deter- 
mine Jong after I failed to detect any in the air I could hear 
them in my chimney it was the same rustling sound I heard 
by day when I could see them coming and going and I know 
that these birds were leaving and returning when the night 



6 ELEMENTARY COMPOSITION 

was very dark I think they can be classed among the noctur- 
nal species 

2. Many years ago there was a cold rain-storm in June for 
comfort a fire was built on the open hearth instead of in the 
air-tight stove that stood before it all went well until the 
night was well advanced suddenly a struggle was heard and 
suppressed cries after a brief silence there was a shuffling of 
feet at the doorstep the men went out with a lantern but no 
one was to be seen the windows were then searched but there 
was nobody near them the matter was discussed in whispers 
again and again the noises were heard at last when every- 
body was roused to a high pitch of excitement the long stove- 
pipe heated by the flames upon the hearth parted at a joint 
and out flew a sooty and bedraggled little owl no one was 
superstitious then but suppose the owl had made its way 
back to the chimney and by this way escaped would not 
every person present have had vague uncanny feelings would 
not the house from that time have been haunted 

Exercise 3. — 1. Write a short passage containing the phrases and 
clauses used in Exercise 1. 

2. Write a short passage containing the following phrases and 
clauses : — 

About noon — going toward my boat — on the sand — the 
print of a man's naked foot — as if I had seen a ghost — up 
to a rising ground — to look around — so frightened was I 
— behind me — every now and then — fancying every stump 
to be a man. 

2. Simple, Complex, and Compound Sentences. — 
According to the custom or grammar of our language, 
we may group our words in sentences in three ways. 
Sentences are, from the point of grammar, of three 
kinds : simple, complex, and compound. 



THE SENTENCE 7 

A simple sentence consists of a single clause. 

Examples. The man fell. The birds sing most sweetly 
at morning and at evening. 

The subject or the predicate of a simple sentence, or 
both, may, however, consist of several parts. 

Examples. The man and the child fell. The man 
slipped and fell. The man and the child slipped and fell. 

A complex sentence contains one independent or 
principal clause and one or more dependent or sub- 
ordinate clauses. 

Examples. It was nearly night when we heard the glad 
news. Before help could reach the city, it had been cap- 
tured by the enemy. 

A compound sentence contains two or more independ- 
ent or principal clauses, either with or without depend- 
ent or subordinate clauses. 

Examples. Every minute seemed a day; every hour 
was a year. Finally, I dropped into an exhausted slumber, 
but I was awakened by the sound of bells. The sun, which 
resembled a ball of fire, touched the horizon and passed 
beneath it, and the darkness of the tropical night came 
swiftly over us. 

Exercise 4. — Which sentences are simple? complex? compound? 
In the complex sentences, which clauses are dependent? In the 
compound sentences, separate the independent clauses from each 
other. Mention any dependent clauses which you find in the 
compound sentences. 

1. It was now near the beginning of the month of June, 
and we had twelve weeks of bad weather before us. 

2. Our rocky home was greatly improved by a wide 



8 ELEMENTARY COMPOSITION 

porch, which I made along the whole front of our rooms and 
entrances. 

3. The weeks of imprisonment passed so rapidly that no 
one found time hanging heavy on his hands. 

4. As the rainy season drew to a close, the weather for a 
while became milder. 

5. Thunder roared, lightning blazed, torrents rushed 
toward the sea, which came in raging billows to meet them. 

6. Nature resumed her smiling aspect of peaceful beauty ; 
and soon all traces of the ravages of floods and storms dis- 
appeared beneath the luxuriant vegetation of the tropics. 

7. The recent storms had stirred the ocean to its depths. 

8. We crossed the river for a walk along the coast, and 
presently Fritz observed on a small island something which 
was long and rounded, resembling a boat bottom upward. 

9. The island being steep and rocky, it was necessary to 
be careful; but we found a good landing place on the far- 
ther side. 

10. The boys hurried by the nearest way to the beach 
where lay the great object, which proved to be a huge 
stranded whale. 

11. Look at these glorious shells and coral branches! 

12. Did you notice the extreme delicacy of the shells? 

13. We were soon ready to return to the boat, but Ernest 
had a fancy for remaining alone on the island till we came back. 

14. The more oil we could obtain the better, for a great 
deal was used in the large lantern which burnt day and 
night in the recesses of the cave. 

15. It was unpleasant work to cut up blubber. 

Exercise 5. — Expand the following simple sentences by sub- 
stituting clauses for the italicized words or phrases. 

Example. I consider him a trustworthy man. I consider him 

a man who can be trusted. 



THE SENTENCE 9 

1. The early bird catches the worm. 2. We started be- 
fore sunrise. 3. The faithful steward received a reward. 

4. I do not doubt your 'prudence. 5. They lived in a rose- 
embowered cottage. 6. Santa Claus came at candle-lighting 
time. 7. We pity the friendless. 8. The prayer of a right- 
eous man availeth much. 9. We should share the burdens 
of the heavy-laden. 10. She carried a dainty lace-trimmed 
handkerchief. 11. We lingered in the lilac-scented garden. 

12. A kind-hearted man delights in the happiness of others. 

13. The traveler wore a fur-lined coat. 14. I enjoy driv- 
ing a spirited horse. 15. A solemn-looking servant opened 
the door. 

Exercise 6. — Use single words in place of the italicized phrases 
and clauses in the following sentences. 

1. We were stepping toward the west. 2. A shout of joy 
rang through the woods. 3. The song of the bluebird sounds 
from the elm. 4. Her wedding gown, ivhich was made of 
silk, was very expensive. 5. Words of kindness cheer those 
who are unhappy. 6. We listened to his tales, which were 
often repeated. 7. His deeds of mercy made him beloved. 
8. A look of sadness clouded the face of the leader. 9. The 
lawyer who is able secures many clients. 10. He visited the 
country, which had recently been discovered. 

Exercise 7. — Substitute, for the italicized words, phrases or 
clauses with the same meaning. 

Example. Contented people are happy (word). People with 
contented minds are happy (phrase). People who are contented are 
happy (clause). 

1. An honest man is the noblest work of God. 2. A 
friendly man will have friends. 3. He is said to be a good- 
natured man. 4. A beautiful child opened the garden-gate. 

5. She wore a simple muslin frock. 6. The king wore his 



10 ELEMENTARY COMPOSITION 

golden crown. 7. He lived a noble life. 8. The garden is 
rilled with fragrant blossoms. 9. Old King Cole was a 
merry old soul. 10. The queen made some delicious tarts. 
11. He spoke hastily. 12. You have a very comfortable 
home. . 13. He treated the boy harshly. 14. Take her up 
tenderly. 15. Beware the fury of a patient man. 

Exercise 8. — Combine each set of simple sentences into one 
complex sentence by changing one of them into a dependent 
clause. 

1. The sun is in the west. Man ceases from labor. 

2. The dew is falling. You must not walk in the garden. 

3. The clock struck twelve. The door opened to admit 
Marley's ghost. 4. Mary has not written to me. She has 
been gone a month. 5. The bee is very industrious. It is 
always gathering honey. 6. I saw a little red owl. It 
lives in a hollow tree. 7. We pitched our tents on the 
shore. Then the sea winds blew. 8. We anchored in the 
bay. The water was calm. 9. They lived in a village. It 
was many miles from a railroad. 10. The poor suffered. 
The good man mourned. 

Exercise 9. — Combine the simple sentences, making compound 
sentences. 

1. The wind blew freshly from the shore. The uneasy 
billows tossed up and down. 2. Eustace sat under a tree. 
The children gathered round him. 3. Cowards are cruel. 
The brave love mercy. 4. Charms strike the sight. Merit 
wins the soul. 5. He invited his guests to remain longer. 
They wished to start before the heat of the day. 6. The 
heaven was above his head. The sand was beneath his feet. 
7. The water trickled among the rocks. A pleasant breeze 
rustled in the dry branches. 8. The commander was badly 
wounded. His men were scattered. 9. It was half-past 



THE SENTENCE 11 

eight in the evening. The conflict had raged for an hour. 
10. The heavens declare the glory of God. The firmament 
showeth his handiwork. 

Exercise 10. — Combine the following statements into simple 
sentences. In each group express the idea of one statement by a 
modifying word or phrase. 

Examples. 1. She lay down. She was sorrowful. Sorrow- 
fully she lay down. 2. She had no shoes. She had to go bare- 
foot. Having no shoes, she had to go barefoot. 

1. He looked back. He saw a cloud of dnst. 2. He sprang 
to his feet. He ran after the messenger. 3. He donned 
the white cockade. He fonght for the exiled prince. 4. 
We climbed the mountain. The day was cool. 5. We 
started for home. The sun had set. 6. He lifted his eyes. 
He looked toward heaven. He thanked God. 7. It was 
early morning. He rowed across the lake. 8. He left 
early. He wished to catch the train. 9. He was very 
studious. He won the scholarship. 10. I went for a 
ramble. I took little Annie with me. 11. John is a black- 
smith. He lives in the village. 12. He shoes horses. He 
does it skillfully. 13. The bluebird sings. He tells us 
spring is here. 14. We feared to start. The night was 
stormy. 15. The watchman was weary. He slept at his 
post. 

Exercise n. — Combine the following statements by using 
relative pronouns. 

Examples. The names lit the wreck. They shone on the dead. 
The flames that lit the wreck shone on the dead. 

1. We heard the roll of ponderous wheels. They roused 
us from our slumbers. 2. Travelers are surprised at the 
beauty of the spot. They occasionally come upon it by acci- 
dent. 3. Our throats are choked with the dust. It lies thick 
along the road. 4. He drank a cup of cold water. This 



12 ELEMENTARY COMPOSITION 

refreshed him. 5. Along came a flock of sheep. They were 
being driven to market. 6. I went to live in a country vil- 
lage. It was more than a hundred miles from home. 7. 
The water gushed from a little spring. It sparkled in the 
sunshine. 8. The villagers were kindly people. They wel- 
comed strangers. 9. I watch the sunrise stealing down the 
steeple. This stands opposite my chamber window. 10. Up 
came a gallant youth. He wore a scarf of the rainbow pat- 
tern crosswise on his breast. 11. He found under it a slen- 
der little boy. The boy wailed bitterly. 12. The Puritan 
saw the boy's frightened gaze. He endeavored to reassure 
him. 13. Here is a little outcast. Providence hath put him 
in our hands. 14. A young man was on his way to Morris- 
town. He was a peddler by trade. 15. A little canary bird 
sings sweetly. It hangs in its gilded cage at my window. 

Exercise 12. — Fill the blanks with conjunctions selected from the 
following list. 

and, also, likewise, moreover, besides, furthermore, 

but, yet, however, nevertheless, 

or, either, nor, neither, 

therefore, hence, then, accordingly. 

1. They had been friends in youth, whispering 

tongues can poison truth. 2. The waves beside them danced, 

they outdid the sparkling waves in glee. 3. The sun 

sank to rest ; we lingered. 4. I came, I saw, 



I conquered. 5. He wanted to live, he wanted to 

work. 6. The owl has a backbone ; it is a vertebrate. 

7. Our forest life was rough; dangers closed us round. 

8. Knowledge comes; wisdom lingers. 9. 'Tis win- 
ter now, spring will blossom soon. 10. We had guns ; 

we had an abundance of ammunition. 11. I go, 

1 return. 12. All the rivers run into the sea; 

the sea is not full. 13, It is storming ; we will not go. 



THE SENTENCE 13 

14. He forgave his enemy ; he was merciful. 15. He 

is not tired, he is lazy. 16. The day proved clear ; 

we began our journey. 17. They had locks to their 

doors bars to their windows. 18. I assured him of 

my willingness; he hesitated. 19. He proved him- 
self honest ; 1 trusted him. 20. The storm raged ; 

we pushed on. 

Exercise 13. — Two ideas are sometimes stated as of equal im- 
portance (compound sentence), when one is really dependent up- 
on the other (complex sentence) . 

Example. "I was on my way to school yesterday morning, 
and I met my cousin Raymond." 

To revise such a sentence as this, decide which clause contains 
the main idea, and make this the principal clause, putting the sub- 
ordinate idea in a subordinate clause. 

E.g. " As I was on my way to school yesterday morning, I met 
my cousin Raymond." 

Reconstruct the following sentences, making them complex 
instead of compound : — 

1. The sun was hot, and we rested in the shade. 

2. "We visited Stratford, and here Shakspere lived. 

3. The poor man was bent with age, and he staggered 
under the heavy load. 

4. The old woman lived in a little cottage, and it stood 
on the edge of the woods. 

5. I was walking along the country roads, and I saw 
some wild strawberries. 

6. The little boy carried a bundle, and it seemed very 
heavy. 

7. The night was chilly, and we built a fire in the grate. 

8. I wished to pass away the time, and I read a newspaper. 

9. He was very ambitious, and he wished to become 
President. 

10. She struck a match, and it burned with a feeble light. 



14 ELEMENTARY COMPOSITION 

3. Variety in the Use of Sentences : — All } r our sen- 
tences must be simple, or complex, or compound ; but 
there is no reason why you should use one of the three 
kinds in preference to another. If you examine a 
passage which you think interesting, you will be quite 
likely to find that some sentences are simple, some 
complex, and some compound. The variety is pleas- 
ing. If all the sentences had been of one kind, the 
result would have been decidedly monotonous. 

Pupils sometimes ask whether they should use long 
sentences or short sentences. This question is really 
answered in the preceding paragraph, for a simple sen- 
tence is usually shorter than a complex or a compound 
sentence. The fact is that what we like is variety. 
Until you are more experienced in composition, it will 
be well for you, in general, to use comparatively short 
sentences, — that is, sentences of not more than twenty- 
five or thirty words. You should feel at liberty, however, 
to follow your own taste in such matters, provided 
that your sentences are not regularly of about the 
same length and about the same form, so that your 
writing is lacking in variety. 

Be particularly careful, moreover, to avoid the sen- 
tence which is so long as not to be easily understood, 
such as the following: — 

I rose softly, slipped on my clothes, opened the door sud- 
denly, and beheld one of the most beautiful little fairy groups 
that a painter could imagine, consisting of a boy and two 
girls, the eldest not more than six, and lovely as seraphs, 
who were going the rounds of the house, singing at every 
chamber door, until my sudden appearance frightened them 



THE SENTENCE 15 

into mute bashfulness, so that they remained for a moment 
playing on their lips with their ringers, and now and then 
stealing a shy glance from under their eyebrows, until, as if 
by one impulse, they scampered away, and as they turned 
an angle of the gallery, I heard them laughing in triumph 
at their escape. 

See how much this passage is improved when the long 
sentence is broken up into shorter sentences: — 

I rose softly, slipped on my clothes, opened the door 
suddenly, and beheld one of the most beautiful little fairy 
groups that a painter could imagine. It consisted of a boy 
and two girls, the eldest not more than six, and lovely as 
seraphs. They were going the rounds of the house, singing 
at every chamber door, but my sudden appearance frightened 
them into mute bashfulness. They remained for a moment 
playing on their lips with their fingers, and now and then 
stealing a shy glance from under their eyebrows, until, as if 
by one impulse, they scampered away, and as they turned 
an angle of the gallery, I heard them laughing in triumph 
at their escape. 

Exercise 14. — I. Improve the following passage by combining 
some of the sentences, making larger complex or compound sen- 
tences : — 

I explored an old cellar. I noticed a slight break in 
the wall. The neck of a bottle projected from it. I drew 
it from its resting place. It proved to be a quaint green 
glass bottle. It bore a label. The label read " Currant 
Wine, 1802." I smacked my lips. 

I handed the bottle to my companion to open. He pulled 
the cork out with his teeth. We filled two tumblers. I 
thanked him. I raised the glass to my lips. I took a deep 
draught. Instantly I bounded to my feet. My bound would 
have done credit to an athlete. I made for the spring-house. 



16 ELEMENTARY COMPOSITION 

" Seems to me/' remarked the old tenant of the house, — 
" seems to me that was horse liniment. I know the smell." 

II. Improve the following passage by using a greater number 
of sentences: — 

Once upon a time there were two princes who were twins 
and they lived in the pleasant vale of Argos, far away in 
Hellas, where they had fruitful meadows and vineyards, 
sheep and oxen, and great herds of horses and all that men 
could need to make them blest, and yet they were wretched, 
because they were jealous of each other, and from the mo- 
ment they were born began to quarrel. 

Exercise 15. — Improve the following by varying the length of 
your sentences, making some long and some short : — 

A sleep fell upon the whole castle. The beautiful prin- 
cess slept in her chamber. The king and the queen were in 
the great hall. They fell fast asleep. The horses slept in 
their stalls. The dogs slept in the yard. The pigeons 
slept on the roof. The very fire on the hearth slept like 
the rest. The meat on the spit ceased roasting. The wind 
ceased. Not a leaf fell from the trees about the castle. 

Around about that place grew a hedge of thorns. At 
last the whole castle was hidden from view. Nothing 
could be seen but the vane on the roof. 

Years after a king's son came into that country. He 
heard about the enchanted castle. He came near the hedge 
of thorns. It changed into a hedge of beautiful flowers. 
He passed through into the castle yard. He saw the horses 
and the hunting dogs lying asleep. On the roof, the 
pigeons were sitting with their heads under their wings. 
He entered the kitchen. The flies on the wall were asleep. 
The cook had her hand uplifted to strike the scullion. The 
kitchen maid had a fowl in her lap ready to pluck. 



THE SENTENCE 17 

He mounted higher. He saw the whole court asleep. 
The king and the queen were asleep on their thrones. At 
last he came to the tower. He went up the winding stair. 
He opened the door. He entered the room of the princess. 

He stooped and kissed the princess. She opened her 
eyes and looked kindly at him. She rose. They went 
forth together. Then the king and queen and whole court 
waked up. The horses rose and shook themselves. The 
hounds sprang up and wagged their tails. The pigeons flew 
into the field. The kitchen fire leaped up and cooked the 
meat. The cook gave the scullion a box on the ear. He 
roared out. The maid went on plucking the fowl. 

The wedding of the prince and princess was celebrated 
with great splendor. They lived happily ever after. 

4. Periodic Sentences. — - We have now discussed sen- 
tences with regard to their grammatical structure and 
with regard to their length. There is one more way in 
which they may be looked at ; that is, the degree to 
which the sense is suspended. This will require a little 
explanation. 

In each of the following sentences two vertical lines 
are placed at the spot where the words first make com- 
plete sense. 

1. Whenever he comes, he is warmly welcomed. || 

2. He is warmly welcomed || whenever he comes. 

3. When Absalom died, David mourned. II 

4. David mourned || when Absalom died. 

5. As the President passed, the soldiers saluted. || 

6. The soldiers saluted || as the President passed. 

7. While there is life, there is hope. || 

8. The sun shines || on the just and the unjust. 



18 ELEMENTARY COMPOSITION 

9. The steam tug had long since let slip her hawsers ,|| and 
gone panting away with a derisive scream. 

10. The ship seemed quite proud||of being left to take care 
of itself, and, w r ith its huge white sails bulged out, strutted off 
like a vain turkey. 

'When the words in a sentence are so arranged that 
the sense is not immediately complete, the sense is said 
to be suspended. A sentence in which the sense is sus- 
pended until the end, or near the end, is called a peri- 
odic sentence. A sentence in which the sense is not 
suspended until the end, or near the end, is called a loose 
sentence. 

A periodic sentence, unless it is long and clumsy, often 
stimulates the attention. You cannot understand it at 
all until j^ou get near the close, and this very fact keeps 
your interest alive and leads your mind on. 

In the following passage the sentences are periodic: — 

In the midst of a garden grew a rosebush covered with 
roses. In one of them, the most beautiful of all, there dwelt 
an elf. So tiny was he that no human eye could see him. 
Behind every leaf in the rose he had a bedroom. Oh, what 
a fragrance there was in his rooms ! The walls, which were 
made of the pale pink rose leaves, were very clear and bright. 
Flying from flower to flower, dancing on the wings of the 
butterflies, rejoicing in the warm sunshine, he led a peaceful 
and happy life. 

Here is the same paragraph, so written that none of 
the sentences is periodic. Does not the paragraph seem 
a little flat ? 

A rosebush covered with roses grew in the midst of a 
garden. An elf dwelt in one of them, the most beautiful of 



THE SENTENCE 19 

all. No human eye could see him, he was so tiny. He had 
a bedroom behind every leaf in the rose. Oh, there was a 
great fragrance in his rooms ! The walls were very clear and 
bright, and were made of the pale pink rose leaves. He 
led a peaceful and happy life, flying from flower to flower, 
dancing on the wings of the butterflies and rejoicing in the 
warm sunshine. 

The point here, as in the other similar matters we 
have discussed, is that the mind likes variety in expres- 
sion. You need not worry yourself by thinking much 
about the form of your sentences ; but you should, if 
possible, get into the habit of varying them from time 
to time. Let them be sometimes short and sometimes 
long ; sometimes simple, and sometimes complex or com- 
pound. And above all, when you are revising what 
you have written, try to make sure that in some cases 
the sense is sufficiently suspended to make your sen- 
tences interesting. 

Exercise 16. — In the passage quoted on page 00, mark the place 
where the sense is complete in- each simple or complex sentence. 
In compound sentences mark the place in each independent clause. 

Exercise 17. — Construct periodic sentences by placing phrases 
before the following statements. 

Example. We idly floated. In among the lily pads we idly 
floated. 

1. The child slept. 2. They eagerly searched. 3. The 
prisoner escaped. 4. We explored the creek. 5. The boys 
laughed. 6. The people rejoiced. 7. We despaired. 
8. The girl fainted. 9. He blithely sang. 10. She suc- 
ceeded. 11. He failed. 12. He received his diploma, 
13. The soldiers retreated. 14. Mary turned. 



20 ELEMENTARY COMPOSITION 

Exercise 18. — Construct periodic sentences by placing dependent 
clauses before the following statements. 

Example. They immediately started. When they heard the 
signal-gun, they immediately started. 

1. They landed. 2. I am happy. 3. We watched. 
4. The coward fled. 5. The raven croaked. 6. The flag 
will float. 7. The child died. 8. The poor suffered. 

9. Our president died. 10. The slaves were free. 11. We 
quietly left. 12. They fled. 13. She returned. 14. We 
received the message. 15. He encouraged us. 

Exercise 19. — Construct periodic sentences by filling the blanks 
in the following with phrases or clauses. 

1. the village smithy stands. 2, he runs. 

3. lay the little village. 4. to grandmother's 

house we go. 5. The moonlight flooded the room. 

6. there was a honeysuckle arbor. 7. he reached 

home. 8. yet I trust him. 9. I will help you. 

10. Washington took command. 11. rode 

the six hundred. 12. a youth passed by. 13. A 

traveler was found. 14. he still grasped a banner. 

15. The prisoner made a confession. 

. Exercise 20. — Construct periodic sentences by filling in the 
blanks with phrases or clauses. 

1. Far away in the forest . 2. Out in the country 

3. A city that is set on a hill . 4. With a look 



of delighted surprise . 5. This young lad, hard as the 

world had knocked him about, . 6. Yet, through all 

his fun, . 7. Though they spake little . 8. With- 
out any discussion, . 9. Looking about her uneasily, 

. 10. Late that night, as I sat up pondering over all 

that had happened, . 



THE SENTENCE 21 

Exercise 21. — Rewrite the following sentences, making them 
periodic. 

1. The night wind swept by with a desolate moan. 
2. The old shutters swung to and fro, screaming upon their 
hinges. 3. The village preacher's modest mansion rose near 
yonder copse, where once the garden smiled. 4. The noble 
six hundred rode into the jaws of death. 5. A sound came 
from the land between the fitful gusts of wind. 6. The 
silvery rain comes aslant like a long line of spears brightly 
burnished. 7. The snow arrives, announced by all the 
trumpets of the sky. 8. Great burdocks grew from the wall 
down to the water, so high that little children could stand 
upright under the loftiest of them. 9. The loveliest children 
ran about on the roads, playing with the gay butterflies. 
10. The clear sun shone warm on the first day of spring 
in a little court yard. 11. An old castle looms over the 
narrow road. 12. The ivy grows thickly over the crumbling 
red walls, leaf by leaf, up to the balcony, and a beautiful 
girl stands there. 13. She glances up the road as she bends 
over the balustrade. 14. The lighthouse of Inverkaldy 
stood on a little rocky island, quite a distance from the main- 
land. 15. He rowed across the water with a cheerful 
heart. 

5. Bad Sentences. — Good sentences, then, are sen- 
tences that have some variety in form and in length, 
and, in particular, that are frequently periodic. 
You will soon learn to give to your writing the little 
touch of grace or beauty that comes in this way. 

But what are bad sentences ? What sorts of sen- 
tences should you try not to make ? There are really 
only three kinds of sentences which are positive^ bad. 
The first is the " comma sentence." 



22 ELEMENTARY COMPOSITION 

6. The "Comma Sentence." — This name is sometimes 
given to sentences in which two or more independent 
clauses, not connected by conjunctions, are separated 
only by commas. You should guard carefully against 
this fault. If two independent clauses be placed 
in a single sentence, they should be connected by a 
conjunction or separated by a semicolon. 

When independent clauses in the same sentence are 
connected by a conjunction, it is proper to use either a 
semicolon or comma. When they are not connected 
by a conjunction, only the semicolon can be used. 

Examples. 1. It was late, and the moon shone brightly. 

2. It was late ; and the moon shone brightly. 

3. It was late ; the moon shone brightly. 

4. It was late, the moon shone brightly. [Wrong.] 

Note for the Teacher. — Occasionally, in a compound sentence, 
particularly when it consists of three or more short statements, 
commas are used instead of semicolons. But it seems best to en- 
courage pupils to use the semicolon invariably. Insistence on 
this practice will greatly strengthen the pupil's grasp of the sen- 
tence and its structure. 

Exercise 22. — Correct the following sentences : — 

1. Everything has its time to flourish, everything passes 
away. 2. It was late at night, the moon shone through the 
windows. 3. We are in a rich, a happy house, all are 
cheerful and full of joy. 4. The door opened and the maid 
came in, they all stood still, not one stirred. 5. I was 
right, we were not of the smallest importance to her. 6. 
I'm glad they are gone, now we can be comfortable. 7. The 
frost had broken up, a soft plentiful rain had melted the 
snowdrifts. 8. The window was a grand advantage, out of 
it one could crawl on to the roof, and from the roof was the 



THE SENTENCE 23 

finest view in all Nortonbury. 9. It was one of my seasons 
of excessive pain, I found it difficult to think of anything 
but pain. 10. The stream lay so low as to be invisible 
from where we sat, you could only trace the line of its 
course by the small white sails. 

Exercise 23. — Insert capitals and periods. 

1. I left Salem House upon the morrow afternoon, I 
little thought then that I left it, never to return, we traveled 
very slowly all night, and did not get into Yarmouth before 
nine or ten o'clock in the morning, I looked out for Mr. 
Barkis, but ■ he was not there ; and instead of him a fat, 
merry-looking little old man in black, with rusty little 
bunches of ribbons at the knees of his breeches, came 
puffing up to the coach window, and said, " Master 
Copperfield ? " 

2. The conflict had raged for an hour, it grew more 
furious, from deck to deck the combatants rushed madly, 
fighting like demons, the Richard and her crew suffered 
terribly, yet they fought on, she had been pierced by several 
eighteen-pound balls below water, she leaked badly, but she 
would not surrender. 

Exercise 24. — Construct ten compound sentences in which no 
connectives are used, and the clauses are separated by semicolons. 

7. Sentences without Unity. — We put into a sen- 
tence thoughts that belong together. Indeed, a good 
sentence is a group of words representing thoughts 
that have a close relationship in the speaker's or 
writer's mind. A sentence thus constructed is said to 
have unity; that is, "orie-ness." A sentence in which 
the words represent facts or thoughts that do not have 
such a relationship is said to lack unity. 



24 ELEMENTARY COMPOSITION 

Examples. 1. The owl, which is a nocturnal bird, has 
round, staring eyes, and superstitious people dislike to hear 
it hoot. [Two thoughts not closely related.] 

2. Columbus was assisted by Queen Isabella of Spain, 
and sailing across the Atlantic Ocean with a fleet of three 
vessels, he discovered a new world. [Two thoughts not 
closely related.] 

3. Columbus was assisted by Queen Isabella, who 
pawned her jewels and used the money thus procured in 
fitting out for him a fleet of three vessels. [Thoughts 
closely related.] 

4. William Penn settled Pennsylvania and made a 
treaty with the Indians under a large elm, which is one of 
the most graceful of our trees. [Thoughts not closely 
related.] 

5. William Penn, who was himself a Quaker, founded 
Pennsylvania as a place of refuge for the persecuted 
Quakers. [Thoughts closely related.] 

Exercise 25. — Rewrite the following sentences : — 

1. The wild strawberry has a delicious flavor, and we en- 
joy picking the berries, which belong to the rose family. 
2. Mary has a new beaver muff which her father bought 
for her in Montreal, the largest city in Canada. 3. Sir 
Walter Ealeigh was a favorite of Queen Elizabeth, called 
the Virgin Queen, and he introduced tobacco into England. 

4. We visited the Metropolitan Museum of Art, where we 
saw the picture called " The Horse Fair," and met Mary, 
who is certainly the most discontented girl I know. 

5. Once, a long time ago, in a little cottage beside a dark 
wood, lived a naughty little boy, and his mother told him 
repeatedly that the old witch that lived in the wood would 
get him. 



THE SENTENCE 



25 



8. The Formless Sentence. — There is still one other 
sort of sentence to be avoided ; that is the ugly, shape- 
less sentence that results from placing together a num- 
ber of complete statements loosely connected by and, 
hit, or so. Sometimes this is called the and sentence or 
the so sentence, because these two connectives are so 
frequently used by inexperienced writers. Let us call 
it the formless sentence, meaning thereby a sentence 
which is deficient in form, or the form of which is ugly or 
distasteful to the trained eye and ear. You will have 
to acquire your sense or taste for form in sentences 
by practice and experience ; but you will be helped 
by studying the sentences given below. Those in the 
left-hand column are well- written; those in the right- 
hand column Sire formless. 



1. At half-past nine we 
reached Charles's house, and 
until half-past ten we were 
busy thinking what to do. 
Finally, some one suggested 
a climb up the Palisades, and 
we started off at eleven. 

2. As it was getting very 
cloudy, we put on some of 
Charles's old clothes. 

3. When " I returned, it 
had stopped raining, and the 
boys were receiving a lecture 
from the farmer's wife. She 
told us that we had no right 
on her property, and a few 
other things we didn't pay 



1. At half-past nine we 
reached Charles's house and 
until half -past ten we were 
busy thinking what to do, 
until some one suggested a 
climb up the Palisades, and 
so we started off at eleven. 

2. It was getting very 
cloudy, so we put on some of 
Charles's old clothes. 

3. When I returned, it 
had stopped raining, and the 
boys were receiving a lec- 
ture from the farmer's wife, 
who told us that we had no 
right on her property, and 
a few other things we didn't 



26 



ELEMENTARY COMPOSITION 



much attention to. But 
when she said that her hus- 
band was a magistrate, and 
that she could have us locked 
up, we got away as quickly 
as we could. 

4. I had been traveling 
all day through the 
snow with one companion, 
who had now gone off to 
what our compasses told us 
was the south, in search of 
wood. I was hungry and 
thoroughly tired. More than 
once during the day I 
had stepped on what seemed 
to be firmly packed snow, 
only to sink to my waist in 
a soft drift, and it was al- 
ways with difficulty that I 
had got out. 



pay much attention to, but 
one thing she told us was 
that her husband was a mag- 
istrate, and that she could 
have us locked up, and so we 
got away from there as 
quickly as we could. 

4. I had been traveling 
all day through the snow 
with one companion, who 
had now gone off to what 
our compasses told us was 
the south, in search of wood, 
and I was thoroughly hun- 
gry and tired, for more than 
once during the day I had 
stepped on what seemed to be 
firmly packed snow, only to 
sink to my waist in a soft 
drift, and it was always with 
difficulty that I had got out. 



You will see, then, that there is certain "knack" 
which you must acquire of giving a sentence a pleasing 
form. With a little patience, you will soon learn it, 
and you will gain it all the more easily by remember- 
ing that the ugly formless sentence, which you are to 
avoid, is simply a long loose sentence (see § 4). 

Exercise 26. — Reconstruct the following sentences : — 

1. There once reigned a queen, and in her garden were 
found the most glorious flowers of all seasons and from all 
lands, but she loved best the roses, and so she had the most 



THE SENTENCE 27 

various kinds of this flower, and they grew against the earth 
walls, and wound themselves round pillars and window 
frames, and all along the ceiling in all the halls, and the 
roses were various in fragrance, form, and color. 

2. Many years ago there lived an emperor, and he cared 
enormously for new clothes, and he wanted to be very fine, 
so he spent all his money for clothes, and he did not care 
about his soldiers, but only liked to drive out and show his 
new clothes, and he had a coat for every hour of the day, 
and just as they say of a king, " He is in council," they said 
of him, "The emperor is in his wardrobe." 

3. Napoleon's marshals came to him once in the midst of 
a battle and said, " We have lost the day and are being cut 
to pieces," but the great soldier drew out his watch, un- 
moved, and said, " It is only two o'clock in the afternoon, 
and though you have lost the battle you have time to win 
another," so they charged again and won a victory, and we 
should enter our battle-fields of difficulty with the same 
unconquerable spirit. 

4. The highest courage is sustained courage, for the power 
of continuance adds to all other powers, and to face danger, 
appreciate the full demand and meet it to the end, is the 
height of brave living, for most young hearts can respond to 
a sudden demand for courage, but the long stretch finds 
them lacking. 

5. A New York woman called on Emerson one morning 
and found the philosopher reading in his study, while near 
him on a plate there lay a little heap of cherry stones, and 
the visitor slipped one of these stones into her glove. Some 
months later she met Emerson again at a reception in Bos- 
ton and recalled her visit to him and then she pointed 
to the brooch she wore, a brooch of gold and brilliants with 
the cherry stone set in the center and she said, " I took this 



28 ELEMENTARY COMPOSITION 

stone from the plate at your elbow on the morning of my 
call/' and Emerson replied, a Ah, I'll tell my amanuen- 
sis of that and he will be so pleased, for he loves cherries, 
but I never touch them myself." 

6. John was a boy who wanted to be a ventriloquist, and 
one day he visited an old engineer in a factory and after a 
little conversation he imitated the squeak of badly oiled 
machinery, and the old engineer trotted to a certain valve 
and oiled it, so John let a few minutes pass and then emitted 
another series of squeaks and the engineer again oiled his 
machinery, and the third time John squeaked the engineer 
saw through the joke and, walking np quietly behind John, 
squirted a half -pint of oil down the back of his neck, say- 
ing, "There! There'll be no more squeaking to-day." 

Exercise 27. — Reconstruct the following sentences, putting the 
underlined phrases in their proper places. 

1. The musician was playing a sonata with long hair. 

2. I saw at once that he was a villain with half an eye. 

3. A woman desires a home for her dog going abroad for 
the summer. 

4. The kind old gentleman lifted the trembling child with 
a gold-headed cane. 

5. A wreath was made by a little girl of roses. 

6. The house was painted brown with the tall flag-pole. 

7. We saw a magnificent cedar tree entering the woods. 

8. We found some golden-rod walking along the dusty 
road. 

9. We saw the lakes climbing a tree. 

10. The old lady gave alms to a young beggar with the 
white hair. 



CHAPTER III 
THE PARAGRAPH 

9. The Use of the Paragraph. — Composition is the 
combining or grouping of words. We group our 
words in sentences. We also group our sentences in 
paragraphs. 

A paragraph is a group of sentences which together 
express an important thought. In a way, of course, 
every sentence expresses a thought — a small thought, 
so to speak. But experience has shown that the edu- 
cated mind can best understand written language if 
it can take in several of these smaller thoughts, in as 
many sentences, in rapid succession, provided only 
that these smaller thoughts, when taken together, make 
up a larger thought. A paragraph is, then, the ex- 
pression of a large or important thought, made up of 
several smaller or less important thoughts, expressed in 
sentences. 

Note. — Sometimes, but not often, a single sentence represents 
such an important thought that it can best stand by itself. 

A paragraph is indicated to the eye by the fact that 
the beginning of the first sentence is placed a little way 
to the right of the left-hand margin; in other words, it 
is indented. On the printed page, a paragraph is in- 
dented only the space which would be occupied by two 
or three letters. In a written composition the para- 
graph is indented about an inch. 

29 



30 ELEMENTARY COMPOSITION 

Another fact that makes it easy for the eye to recog- 
nize a paragraph is that it frequently does not close 
with the end of a line. 

When, therefore, you look at a piece of printed or 
written composition, you see at once that you are to re- 
ceive a certain number of thoughts or ideas, each of 
which is placed in a section or paragraph by itself. In 
listening to an address or oration you notice the separa- 
tion between the thoughts by the fact that the speaker 
usually makes a pause of several seconds to indicate 
that he has finished the expression of one thought and 
is now ready to pass on to another. 

Note. — In writing a long conversation, it is usually customary 
to make each speech of each person a paragraph by itself, even if 
it consists of only a few words. This is because it is of the ut- 
most importance, in reading an account of a conversation, to know 
just who is speaking. 

10. The Beginning. — We group our sentences. 
But how shall we begin ? What sentences shall come 
first ? Usually we shall express our thoughts most 
clearly if we begin with a sentence that shows in brief 
what the whole paragraph is about. This is sometimes 
called the topic sentence, because it is the sentence that 
states the topic or central idea of the paragraph. 

Examples. 1. To the simple-hearted folk who dwelt in 
that island three thousand years ago, there was never a 
sweeter spot than sea-girt Ithaca. Rocky and rugged 
though it may have seemed, yet it was indeed a smiling 
land embosomed in the laughing sea. There the air was 
always mild and pure, and balmy with the breath of blos- 
soms; the sun looked kindly down from a cloudless sky, 



THE PARAGRAPH 31 

and the storms seldom broke the quiet ripple of the waters 
which bathed the shores of that island home. On every 
side but one, the land rose straight up out of the deep sea to 
meet the feet of craggy hills and mountains crowned with 
woods. Between the heights were many narrow dells green 
with orchards, while the gentler slopes were covered with 
vineyards, and the steeps above them gave pasturage to 
flocks of long-wooled sheep and mountain-climbing goats. 
— James Baldwin : A Story of the Golden Age. 

[Here the first sentence shows that the paragraph is to be about 
the beauty of the island.] 

2. Upon the ridge above our tent was a third tiny clear- 
ing, where some trappers had once made their winter camp. 
It was there that I watched the rabbits one moonlight night 
from my seat on an old log, just within the shadow at the 
edge of the opening. The first arrival came in with a rush. 
There was a sudden scurry behind me, and over the log he 
came with a flying leap that landed him on the smooth bit 
of ground in the middle, where he whirled around and 
around with grotesque jumps, like a kitten after its tail. 
Only Br'er Babbit's tail was too short for him ever to catch 
it ; he seemed rather to be trying to get a good look at it. 
Then he went off helter-skelter in a headlong rush through 
the ferns. Before I knew what had become of him, over 
the log he came again in a marvelous jump, and went tear- 
ing around the clearing like a circus horse, varying his per- 
formance now by a high leap, now by two or three awkward 
hops on his hind legs, like a dancing bear. It was im- 
mensely entertaining. — William J. Long: Ways of Wood 
Folk. 

[Here the first two sentences show that the paragraph is to be 
about watching rabbits in a clearing by moonlight.] 



32 ELEMENTARY COMPOSITION 

3. Soon after he was raised to the dignity of postmaster 
another piece of good fortune came in his way. Sangamon 
County covered a territory some forty miles long by fifty 
wide, and almost every citizen in it seemed intent on buy- 
ing or selling land, laying out new roads, or locating some 
future city. John Calhoun, the county surveyor, therefore, 
found himself with far more work than he could personally 
attend to, and had to appoint deputies to assist him. 
Learning the high esteem in which Lincoln was held by the 
people of New Salem, he wisely concluded to make him a 
deputy, although they differed in politics. It was a flatter- 
ing offer, and Lincoln accepted gladly. Of course he knew 
almost nothing about surveying, but he got a compass and 
chain, and, as he tells us, " studied Flint and Gibson a little, 
and went at it." The surveyor, who was a man of talent and 
education, not only gave Lincoln the appointment, but, it is 
said, lent him the book in which to study the art. Lincoln 
carried the book to his friend Graham, and "went at it" 
to such purpose that in six weeks he was ready to begin 
the practice of his new profession. Like Washington, who, 
it will be remembered, followed the same calling in his 
youth, he became an excellent surveyor. — Helen Nico- 
lay : The Boys' Life of Abraham Lincoln. 

[Here the first sentence shows that the paragraph is to be about 
a new piece of good fortune in Lincoln's life.] 

When you are writing a composition in a single para- 
graph, you will find the topic sentence very useful. In 
no other way can you so quickly give the reader a 
notion of what to expect. But it is not necessary 
always to begin with a topic sentence. What is im- 
portant is that you begin with a hint that will turn the 
reader's thoughts in the right direction. Look at the 



THE PARAGRAPH 33 

beginnings of several paragraphs in your reader, and 
you will see how the hint is given. 

Exercise 28. — What do the opening sentences in the following 
paragraphs show ? 

1. One cold morning early in December, 1800, a party of 
tourists was crossing the Alps, — a pretty large party, too, 
for there were several thousands of them. Some were rid- 
ing, some walking, and most of them had knapsacks 
on their shoulders like many Alpine tourists nowadays. 
But instead of walking sticks, they carried muskets with 
bayonets, and dragged along with them some fifty or sixty 
cannons. 

2. There was one among them who seemed quite to 
enjoy the rough marching and tramping along through the 
deep snow and cold gray mist. This was a little drummer 
boy ten years old, whose fresh, rosy face looked very bright 
and pretty among the grim, scarred visages of the old 
soldiers. When the cutting wind hurled a shower of snow 
in his face, he dashed it away with a cheery laugh, and 
awoke alhthe echoes with a lively rattle on his drum, till it 
seemed as if the huge black rocks around were all singing 
in chorus. 

3. Ezekiel made the first plea. His argument was a 
strong one against all wild and destructive animals in gen- 
eral, and against this woodchuck in particular. He called 
attention to the damage which had been done already to 
the growing vegetables, and to the further mischief which 
might be done if the animal were set free. 

4. Between two cliffs lay a deep ravine, with a full 
stream rolling heavily through it over bowlders and rough 
ground. It was high and steep, and one side was bare, 
save at the foot, where clustered a thick, fresh wood, so 

r> 



34 ELEMENTARY COMPOSITION 

close to the stream that the mist from the water lay upon 
the foliage in spring and autumn. The trees stood looking 
upwards and forwards, unable to move either way. 

Exercise 29. — Supply topic sentences for the following para- 
graphs : — 

1. He [George Washington] was very tall, powerfully 
made, with a strong, handsome face. He was remarkably 
muscular and powerful. As a boy, he was a leader in all 
outdoor sports. No one could fling the bar farther than 
he, and no one could ride more difficult horses. 

2. It [the old-fashioned school] is a large, dingy room, 
with a sanded floor, and is lighted by windows that turn on 
hinges, and have little diamond-shaped panes of glass. The 
scholars sit on long benches, with desks before them. At 
one end of the room is a great fireplace, so spacious that 
there is room enough for three or four boys to stand in each 
of the chimney corners. 

3. The hall [of the Imperial library] is two hundred and 
forty-five feet long, with a magnificent dome in the center. 
The walls are of variegated marble, richly ornamented with 
gold, and the ceiling and dome are covered with brilliant 
fresco paintings. The library numbers three hundred 
thousand volumes and sixteen thousand manuscripts, which 
are kept in walnut cases, adorned with medallions. 

4. [The Country Boy's Vacation.] When school keeps he 
has only to "do chores and go to school," but between terms 
there are a thousand things on the farm that have been left 
for the boys to do. Picking up stones in the pastures ami 
piling them in heaps used to be one of them. 

5. [Recess in a Country School.] He is like a deer; he 
can nearly fly; and he throws himself into piny with entire 
self-forgetfulness, and an energy that would overturn the 
world if his strength were proportioned to it. For ten min- 



THE PARAGRAPH 35 

utes the world is absolutely his ; the weights are taken off, 
restraints are loosed, and he is his own master. 

Exercise 30. — Write short paragraphs to complete three of the 
following topic sentences : — 

1. From the summit of the hill they saw the sun set. 

2. When the flames were out, we saw how great the dam- 
age was. 

3. In a moment, the storm was upon them. 

4. At ten years old, I was taken to help my father in his 
business. 

5. It was a beautiful little craft. 

6. There stood Lincoln, a remarkable figure. 

7. It was market day. 

8. Close by the roadside stands a little schoolhouse. 

9. In the year 1776 a remarkable event occurred. 

10. His attention was arrested by a dove, pursued by a 
kingbird. 

11. Unity in the Paragraph. — In your study of the 
sentence, you learned that every good sentence must have 
unity; that is, that the thoughts included in a sen- 
tence must be very closely associated. You are now to 
learn that every good paragraph must likewise have 
unity. A paragraph, whether it be long or short, has 
unity when it treats of but a single topic. The topic 
sentence will be a great help to you in giving your para- 
graphs unity. You will not be so apt to jumble into one 
paragraph material that should be placed in two or three, 
if you will, before you begin to write, decide upon the 
subject of your paragraph and make a topic sentence for 
it. You can test the unity of your paragraph by asking 



36 ELEMENTARY COMPOSITION 

with respect to each sentence that you construct, " Does 
it relate to the subject of my paragraph ? " 

Exercise 31. — The following paragraphs lack unity. How 
many topics are treated in each ? 

1. In the German land of Wiirtemberg lies the little 
town of Marbach. Although this place can be ranked only 
among the smaller towns, it is charmingly situated on the 
Neckar stream, that flows on and on, hurrying past villages 
and old castles to pour its waters into the proud Rhine. It 
was late in autumn. The leaves still clung to the grape- 
vine, but they were already tinged with red. Rainy gusts 
swept over the country, and the cold autumn winds increased 
in violence. 

2. Cecelia's home was an old family mansion situated in 
the midst of a pleasant farm. This was inclosed by wil- 
low hedges and a broad and gently murmuring river; 
nearer the house were groves with rocky knolls and breezy 
bowers of beech. Cecelia's bosom friend at school was 
Alice Archer ; and after they left school, the love between 
them rather increased than diminished. 

3. Alice Archer was a delicate girl with a pale transpar- 
ent complexion and large gray eyes that seemed to see vis- 
ions. Her figure was slight, almost fragile ; her hands white 
and slender. The old house in which * she lived with her 
mother, with four sickly Lombardy poplars in front, sug- 
gested gloomy and mournful thoughts. It was one of those 
places that depress you as you enter. One other inmate the 
house had, and only one. This was Sally Manchester, the 
cook. She was an extraordinary woman of large frame and 
masculine features, — one of those who are born to work. A 
treasure she was to this family. 

4. Far out in the sea the water is as blue as the petals of 



THE PABAGRAPH 37 

the most beautiful corn-flowers, and as clear as the purest 
glass. But it is very deep, deeper than any cable will sound; 
and down there live the sea people. The Sea King had 
been a widower for many years. His old mother kept 
house for him and his daughters, the little sea princesses. 

5. Shy lock, the Jew, lived at Venice. He was a usurer, 
who had amassed an immense fortune by lending money at 
great interest to Christian merchants. Being a hard-hearted 
man, he was much disliked by all good men. Antonio was 
the kindest man that lived, the best loved, and had the most 
unwearied spirit in doing courtesies. He was greatly 
beloved by all his fellow-citizens ; but the friend who was 
nearest to his heart was Bassanio, a noble young Venetian. 
One day, Bassanio came to Antonio and told him that he 
wished to repair his fortune by a wealthy marriage with a 
lady whom he dearly loved. 

12. The Body of the Paragraph. — We are to begin 
with a topic sentence, or with a sentence that gives 
some hint of what is to follow. And what next ? Next 
comes the body of the paragraph, the real paragraph, 
the idea we had in mind to express. 

The best plan to follow in the making of your para- 
graph is this: — 

1. Write brief notes of your material on the topic you 
have in mind, and make sure that it all bears directly 
on the topic. 

2. Arrange these notes in the order that would be 
most natural and intelligible to the reader. 

3. Find a good topic sentence. 

4. Write the paragraph according to the plan ar- 
ranged. 



38 ELEMENTARY COMPOSITION 

Example I. Subject of paragraph : The Long-spurred 
Columbine. 

A. Material : 1. Native of the Rocky Mountains. 2. 
Blooms abundantly. 3. Grows on shady slopes. 4. Color — 
blue, white, occasionally pink, never red. 5. Sepals — ovate 
with slender spurs, spreading ; double length of the petals 
with which they alternate. 6. Petals — round and lighter 
in color than sepals. 7. Size — three inches broad. 
8. Beauty — so great that it has been introduced into gardens. 

[In this example, the material has fallen of its own accord into 
a good order : general statements, 1, 2, 3 ; color, 4 ; form, 5, 6 ; size, 
7 ; beauty, 8. In this case, therefore, it will not be necessary to 
rearrange the material.] 

B. Topic sentence: The long-spurred columbine is an 
exquisite flower. 

(7. Whole paragraph : The long-spurred columbine is an 
exquisite flower. It is a native of the Rocky Mountains, 
where it blooms abundantly on shady slopes. It often wears 
a blue gown; it also wears white and occasionally pink, but 
never red. The ovate sepals, with their slender spurs, are 
spreading, and double the length of the round, lighter-colored 
petals with which they alternate. In size it is quite three 
inches across. It is so beautiful that it has been introduced 
into many gardens. 

Example II. Subject of paragraph: Emigration to Cali- 
fornia in 1849. 

A. Material : 1. In ? 49, " gold fever " reaches Eastern 
states. 2. Rush for West. 3. Eighty thousand men reach 
California before end of year. 4. A few gain riches. 
r>. The greater part barely make a living by exhaustive toil. 
6. Hardships of journey across Isthmus of Panama and 
across continent (overland route). 7. San Francisco, from 



THE PARAGRAPH 39 

an insignificant settlement, sprang into city of twenty thou- 
sand inhabitants. 

B. Material rearranged: 1. In 1849 — "gold fever" 
reaches Eastern states. 2. Eush for West. 3. Hardships 
of journey. 4. Eighty thousand men reach California. 
o. San Francisco's rapid growth. 6. A few gain riches. 
7. The greater number barely make a living by their 
exhausting toil. 

[Xotice that 6 has been made 3. The hardships of the journey 
should naturally be described before the facts about the arrival 
are given.] 

C. TopiQ sentence : In 1849 the " gold fever " reached the 
Eastern states, and a great rush of emigration began, both 
by land and by sea. 

D. Whole paragraph : In 1849 the " gold fever " reached 
the Eastern states, and a great rush of emigration began 
both by land and by sea. Many died of sickness contracted 
in crossing the Isthmus of Panama; multitudes more per- 
ished on the overland route across the continent. Notwith- 
standing the hardships and loss of life, over eighty thousand 
men succeeded in reaching California before the end of the 
year. Erom an insignificant settlement San Erancisco sud- 
denly sprang into a city of twenty thousand inhabitants. 
A few of these emigrants gained the riches they so eagerly 
sought, but the greater part barely made a living by the 
most exhausting toil. 

Example III. Subject of paragraph : President Lincoln's 
Call for Volunteers. 

A. Material : 1. Lincoln calls for seventy-five thousand 
volunteers April 15, 1861. 2. Wishes them to serve three 
months. 3. Within thirty-six hours several companies 
from Pennsylvania had reached Washington. 4. Men of 



40 ELEMENTARY COMPOSITION 

all parties at the North forgot their political quarrels 
and hastened to the defense of the capital. 5. The Sixth 
Massachusetts Eegiment was the first full regiment to march. 
6. Few supposed the war would last longer than three 
months. 7. The Sixth Massachusetts speedily followed the 
Pennsylvania regiments. 

B. Material rearranged: 1. Lincoln calls for seventy- 
five thousand volunteers April 15, 1861. 2. For three 
months' service. 3. Few supposed the war would last longer. 
4. Men of all parties at North forgot their political quarrels 
and hastened to the defense of the capital. 5. Within thirty- 
six hours several Pennsylvania regiments had reached 
Washington. 6. The Sixth Massachusetts was the first 
full regiment to march. 7. The Sixth Massachusetts 
speedily followed the Pennsylvania regiments. 

(7. Topic sentence : On April 15, 1861, President Lincoln 
called for seventy-five thousand volunteers. 

D. Whole paragraph: On April 15, 1861, President 
Lincoln called for seventy-five thousand volunteers. They 
were to enlist for only three months, for few then supposed 
the war would last longer than that. In response to the 
President's call, men of all parties at the North forgot their 
political quarrels, and hastened to the defense of the 
capital. Within thirty-six hours several companies from 
Pennsylvania had reached Washington. They were speedily 
followed by the Sixth Massachusetts Eegiment — the first 
full regiment to march. 

Exercise 32. — Make notes for completing the paragraphs sug- 
gested by the following topic sentences. In arranging your notes. 
you should follow some simple plan. If you are writing a story, 
for instance, you will naturally follow the order of time, and put 
things down in the order in which they occurred. If you are 
writing a description of scenery, you may mention the various 



THE PAEAGBAPH 41 

objects in the order in which you saw them, or in the order of 
place, or in the order of importance. If you are explaining 
something, you will present facts in the order of their impor- 
tance, and according to their connection with each other, always 
keeping in mind that you wish to make your explanation simple 
and clear. 

1. The journey had been long and tiresome. 

2. At sunset I stood on a hill, overlooking the town. 

3. The dew had not disappeared, when, just after sunrise, I 
started out, fishing rod in hand. 

4. Golden-rod is one of the most common and the most beauti- 
ful of our wayside flowers. 

13. Too Many Paragraphs. — Sometimes matter that 
might be properly included in one paragraph is spread 
over two or three paragraphs, as in the following 
passages : — 

I. As the Hurons, to every appearance, had abandoned 
the pursuit, there was no apparent reason for this excess of 
caution. 

The flight was, however, maintained for hours, until 
they had reached a bay, near the northern termination of 
the lake. 

Here the canoe was driven upon the beach, and the 
whole party landed. 

II. The Duke of Normandy landed in Sussex, in the 
year 1066. He had an army of sixty thousand chosen men, 
for accomplishing his bold enterprise. 

Many gallant knights who were not his subjects joined 
him. in the hope of obtaining fame in arms and estates, if 
his enterprise should prosper. 

Exercise 33. — Write the following selection in three para- 
graphs. State the subject of each paragraph. 



42 ELEMENTARY COMPOSITION 

Burton Holmes, the lecturer, says that the Indians of 
Alaska regard white men and canned goods as so closely 
associated that they are nearly synonymous. 

Wherever the white man is seen, canned meats, fruits, 
and vegetables are found. 

When Mr. Holmes visited Alaska recently, he carried 
with him a phonograph. This was exhibited to an old 
chief who had never seen a talking machine before. 

When the machine was started, and the sound of a 
human voice came from the trumpet, the Indian was much 
interested. 

He listened gravely for a time, then approached and 
peered into the trumpet. 

When the machine finished its cylinder and stopped, the 
Indian pointed at it, and smiling an expansive smile, 
remarked, k Huh ! Him canned white man. " 

14. The End of a Paragraph. — Occasionally you will 
find that it is convenient to put at the end of a para- 
graph a sentence that will sum up your whole idea in a 
few words. Such a sentence is particularly useful 
when no topic sentence has been used. 

Examples : — 

1. The great error in Rip's composition was a strong 
dislike of all kinds of profitable labor. It could not be 
from the want of perseverance; for he would sit on a wet 
rock, with a rod as long and heavy as a lance, and fish all 
day without a murmur, even though he should not be 
encouraged by a single nibble. He would carry a fowling 
piece on his shoulder for hours together, trudging through 
woods and swamps, and up hill and down dale, to shoot a 
few squirrels or wild pigeons. He would never refuse to 



THE PARAGRAPH 43 

assist a neighbor even in the roughest toil, and was a fore- 
most man at all country frolics for husking Indian corn, or 
building stone fences ; the women of the village, too, used 
to employ him to run their errands, and to do such little 
odd jobs as their less obliging husbands would not do for 
them. In a word, Rip was ready to attend to anybody's 
business but his own; but as to doing family duty, and 
keeping his farm in order, he found it impossible. — Wash- 
ington Irving: Rip Van Winkle. 

2. I was fatigued with traveling, rowing, and want of 
rest ; I was very hungry, and my whole stock of cash con- 
sisted of a Dutch dollar and about a shilling in copper. 
This latter I gave the people of the boat for my passage, 
who at first refused it on account of my rowing; but I 
insisted on their taking it. A man is sometimes more 
generous when he has but a little money than when he has 
plenty, perhaps through fear of being thought to have but 
little. — Benjamin Franklin : Autobiography. 

3. We are a part of the public, and help to make its 
opinions and give it its power. Laws are practically 
useless unless the general sentiment of the community 
sanctions them. The rules of great corporations prohibit- 
ing the use of liquor by employees are now enforced as they 
could not have been a few years ago. They can be en- 
forced now because of a growth of the belief that intoxi- 
cants are harmful, and a growing demand that those 
intrusted with human lives and with great interests shall 
be clear of brain and reliable of hand. Public opinion is a 
power, and it is one that we should help to form and help 
to use. 

Exercise 34. — Make notes for paragraphs suggested by the fol- 
lowing summary sentences : — 



44 ELEMENTARY COMPOSITION 

1. In a word, it was a magnificent sight. 

2. Thus died a brave soldier. 

3. It was a simple but a kindly act. 

4. It was too late. 

Exercise 35. — Find summary sentences for the paragraphs sug- 
gested by the following notes : — 

1. Tom obliged to whitewash fence. — Holiday. — Other 
boys come for him. — Pretends to enjoy his task. — Refuses 
to let them help him. — Finally accepts bribe and lets the 
boys do his work. [Summary sentence expressing an opin- 
ion of Tom's cleverness.] 

2. Autumn storm — rocky coast — high wind — big 
waves — dashing spray. [Summary sentence expressing 
your pleasure or discomfort.] 

3. Getting up early on a winter morning — unpleasant — 
dark — cold — sleepy. [Summary sentence indicating your 
dislike.] 

15. Quotations. — This is a convenient place to explain 
the punctuation of quotations. 

Quotations are direct when the exact words of the 
speaker or writer are repeated. They are indirect when 
the thought is expressed without using the exact words. 

1. Direct. " Good evening, Dance," said the doctor, with 
a nod. "And good evening to you, Jim. What good wind 
brings you here ? " 

2. Indirect. The doctor nodded, said good evening to 
Dance and Jim, and asked what good wind brought them 
there. 

In writing down a conversation, it is customary to 
make each speech of each person a paragraph by itself, 
even if it consists of only a few words. 



THE PARAGRAPH 45 

A direct quotation should be inclosed in quotation 
marks. 

When a direct quotation is broken or separated by 
words which are not quoted, each part of the quotation 
should be inclosed in quotation marks. 

1. Unbroken. " Have you any money ? " asked the baker. 

2. Broken. " Run along/' said the woman, kindly ; " carry 
your bread home, child." 

The first word of a direct quotation should begin with 
a capital letter. 

If the quotation when unbroken is composed of two 
independent parts separated by a semicolon, a semicolon 
(not a comma) should follow the author's words when 
the quotation is 1 broken. 

1. Unbroken. Solomon said, " Boast not thyself of to-mor- 
row; for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth." 

2. Broken. " Boast not thyself of to-morrow/' said Solo- 
mon ; " for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth." 

When a quotation is long or formally introduced, it 
is usually preceded by a colon, or by a colon and a 
dash. 

1. Nathan Hale, before he was executed, spoke the fol- 
lowing words: "I regret that I have only one life to give 
for my country." 

2. In Tennyson's Bugle Song we find the following beau- 
tiful lines : — 

" love, they die in yon rich sky, 

They faint on hill, or field, or river ; 
Our echoes roll from soul to soul 
And grow forever and forever." 



46 ELEMENTARY COMPOSITION 

Exercise 36. — Rewrite the following sentences, putting in the 
quotation marks. Make each speech of each person a paragraph 
by itself. 

1. The mother turned her head as Alice entered, and said, 
Who is it ? Is it you, Alice ? Yes, it is I, mother. Where 
have you been so long ? I have been nowhere, dear mother. 
I have come directly home from church. How long it seems to 
me! It is very late. It is growing quite dark. I was just 
going to call for the lights. Why, mother ! exclaimed Alice, 
in a startled tone, what do you mean ? The sun is shining 
directly into your face ! Impossible, my dear Alice. It is 
quite dark. I cannot see you. Where are you? Alice 
leaned over her mother and kissed her. Both were silent, — 
both wept. They knew that the hour, so long looked for- 
ward to with dismay, had suddenly come. Mrs. Archer 
was blind! 

2. Yonder comes Moses. As she spoke, Moses came in on 
foot, sweating under the deal box, which he had strapped 
round his shoulders like a peddler. Welcome, w r elcome, 
Moses; well, my boy, what have you brought us from the 
fair ? I have brought you myself, cried Moses, with a sly 
look, and resting the box on the dresser. Ah, Moses, cried 
my wife, that we know, but where is the horse ? I have 
sold him, cried Moses, for three pounds five shillings and 
twopence. Well done, my good boy, returned she. Be- 
tween ourselves, three pounds five shillings and tw r opence is 
no bad day's work. Come, let us have it, then. I have 
brought back no money, cried Moses again. I have laid it 
all out in a bargain, and here it is, pulling out a bundle from 
his breast; here they are, a gross of green spectacles, with 
silver rims and shagreen cases. A gross of green spectacles ! 
repeated my wife in a faint voice. And you have parted 
with the colt, and bought us back nothing but a gross of 



TEE PARAGRAPH 47 

green paltry spectacles ! Dear mother, cried the boy, why 
won't you listen to reason ? They were a dead bargain, or 
I should not have bought them. 

Exercise 37. — Change the following indirect quotations to 
direct quotations : — 

1. The fir tree wished it were tall enough to go to sea, 
and asked the stork to tell it what the sea looked like ; but 
the stork replied that it would take too much time to 
explain. 

2. The little boy asked his grandmother whether the 
swarm of white bees had a queen bee and she replied that 
they certainly had. 

3. Rip asked in despair whether nobody there knew Rip 
Van Winkle, and some one answered that he stood leaning 
against a tree yonder. Rip looked, and beheld a precise 
counterpart of himself as he went up the mountain. The 
poor fellow was now completely confounded and wondered 
whether he was himself or another man. In the midst of 
his bewilderment, the man in the cocked hat demanded who 
he was and what was his name. Eip replied that he was 
not himself but somebody else, and that he could not tell 
who he was. 

Exercise 38. — Write from dictation. 

1. A little daughter of a clergyman was not feeling well, 
and had to be put to bed early. 

"Mother," she said, "I want to see my dear father." 

"No, dear," said her mother, "father is not to be dis- 
turbed just now." 

Presently came the pleading voice, " I want to see my 
father." 

" No, dear," was the answer, " I cannot disturb him." 



48 ELEMENTARY COMPOSITION 

Then the four-year-old parishioner rose to the question of 
privilege. 

" Mother/' said she, " I am a sick woman, and I want to 
see my minister." 

2. One night my friend put up at a small country hotel. 
The next morning, at breakfast, the landlord said to him, 
" Did you enjoy the cornet playing in the room next to yours 
last night ? " 

"Enjoy it!" my friend replied, "I should think not. 
Why, I spent half the night pounding on the wall to make 
the man stop." 

"It must have been a misunderstanding," said the land- 
lord. "The cornet player told me that the person in the 
next room applauded him so heartily that he went over 
every piece he knew three times." 



CHAPTER IV . 
WORDS 

16. How We learn Words. — We have now for some 
time been studying about combinations of words, but 
we have said very little about words themselves. This 
was the proper course to follow, for in our native lan- 
guage we need to be told about combinations of words 
more than about words themselves; about these we can- 
not help finding out much by ourselves. Indeed, it is 
life that teaches us words, — life and association with 
our fellows. We could scarcely avoid learning rapidly 
the names which the people who speak our language 
have given to the multitude of actual things which we 
see and touch, and the common words which are cus- 
tomary to express our feelings and thoughts with regard 
to these objects. As we grow older and wiser, and 
particularly if we associate with persons of intelligence 
and information, and read widely in books of all sorts, 
we become rapidly acquainted also with a great mass 
of words that have grown up to express the most ab- 
stract thoughts and the most delicate shades of feeling. 

Life, then, and association with our fellows, and read- 
ing will bring to our knowledge, in due course of time, 
all the words we shall ever need to use. There are a 
few hints to be given, however, which will be of service 
to you in this process of learning the customary words 
e 49 



50 ELEMENTARY COMPOSITION 

which the people of our race and nation use to express 
their thoughts and feelings. 

17. The Size and Character of the English Vocabu- 
lary. — We use the word vocabulary to express the total 
number of words used by a person or group of persons. 
The English vocabulary, then, is the total number of 
words used by the people who write and speak English. 
There are more than three hundred thousand such 
words collected in our dictionaries, and the number is 
being added to every year. No single person would be 
acquainted with all these words, for many of them have 
been used only rarely, or only among little groups of 
people, or in connection with sciences not understood 
by the people at large. The number of words that an 
intelligent and educated person would understand when 
he saw or heard them is not often more than sixty 
thousand; the number of words that such a person 
would himself use is very much less — probably not, as a 
rule, more than twenty thousand. 

A great many of our words come from the Latin lan- 
guage, and you will be greatly aided in your study of 
English words if you can learn something of that lan- 
guage. 

18. Increasing One's Vocabulary. — It is clear, then, 
that you will greatly increase your vocabulary as you 
grow older and wiser. It is also true, in general, that 
as your vocabulary grows you will grow, to some extent, 
in knowledge of the world. It will be worth while for 
you, therefore, to get into the habit of learning new 
words. This could, of course, be done by reading the 



WORDS 51 

dictionary (and the dictionary is by no means an unin- 
teresting volume to pick up from time to time), but the 
more natural way is to reach this result by cultivating 
the habit of attention to words. You might begin the 
habit by noticing accurately the names of things you 
see or handle, — of tools and implements, birds, animals, 
and flowers; the names of different colors and shades; 
the names applied to persons to describe their duties 
and occupations. 

Exercise 39. — Write as many words as possible that name : — 

1. Various trades and professions. 2. Vehicles used on 
land. 3. Boats (from a man-of-war to a flatboat). 4. Build- 
ings — (a) churches, (5) public buildings, (c) educational 
buildings, (d) buildings used for amusements. 5. Parts of 
a bicycle. 6. Tools. 7. Birds. 8. Flowers. 9. Colors. 
10. Musical instruments. 

Exercise 40. — After each of the following nonns place a verb 
that describes the sound made by the animal mentioned. 

Sheep, owls, sparrows, goats, oxen, frogs, hens, bears, 
horses, robins, roosters, doves, lionsj parrots, ravens, 
monkeys, elephants, snakes. 

Exercise 41. — Notice the following words which might be used 
in describing some one's appearance : — 

Eyes : bright, dull, sparkling, clear, heavy, close-set, shifting, 
narrow, honest, gentle, penetrating, keen, kindly, expressive, 
lovely, hard. 

Forehead: noble, high, receding, low, broad, narrow, well-shaped. 

Figure : muscular, wiry, broad-shouldered, well-proportioned, slen- 
der, thick-set, stout, short, tall. 

1. Make a similar list to describe a person's disposition, 
ability, conversation. 



52 ELEMENTARY COMPOSITION 

2. Make a list of the descriptive words used by Long- 
fellow in The Village Blacksmith. 

Exercise 42. — Find as many descriptions of winter as you can. 
Make lists of words nsed by the authors in describing it. Make' 
lists of words that you might use in describing the following : a 
picnic; Christmas night; the weather; the character of Washing- 
ton; an old house ; a shell ; a feather; a sunset ; Mount Washington : 
a lily-ofthe valley ; your favorite walk. 

Exercise 43. — The same scene may look very different to you 
at different times, — for instance, a piece of woods which you visit 
in company with some merry boys and girls in search of spring 
flowers, and the same woods in which you wander alone, having 
lost your way. 

Select from the following list adjectives which you might use 
in writing the first description; the second. 

Things described: path, leaves on the ground, birds, squirrels, 
trees, brook. 

Descriptive words: lonely, crisp, solitary, chattering, moaning, 
merry, mournful, timid, scolding, shady, romantic, charming, 
singing, sweet-voiced, warning, sobbing, dismal, gloomy. 

Exercise 44. — Compare the following : 1. New York Harbor 
seen by a citizen of New York who is returning home after a long 
absence in some foreign country. 2. The same viewed by a 
homesick Norwegian girl who has left all her friends in Norway. 

Select some of your descriptive words from the following, 
adding as many others as you feel that yon need : inhospitable, 
gloomy, cold, hard, welcome, joyous, sad, bright, glorious, fearful, 
lonely, pathetic, homesick. 

Exercise 45. — 1. The village bell is ringing. Describe the 
way it sounds to you on the following occasions : — 

Calling to church service on a clear, sunny Sabbath morning; toll- 
ing for the death of a dear friend ; ringing in celebration of a victory 
(suppose that we are at war witli another country); ringing to 
celebrate a wedding: ringing "the old year out, and the new 
year in." [Head The Bells t by Edgar Allan Poe, before writing.] 



WORDS 53 

2. Write a paragraph telling how you felt when you heard that 
you were to have some unexpected pleasure. 

3. Imagine yourself living on the morning of April 15, 1865. 
Describe your feelings on learning of the death of Lincoln. 

19. Synonyms. — Synonyms are words which have 
the same or nearly the same meaning. 

Examples : Liberal, generous ; face, countenance. 

A knowledge of synonyms will be valuable to you in 
several ways. First, it will enable you to avoid the too 
frequent repetition of a word. By using synonyms, then, 
you add variety to your writing. 

" When the walk is over there is abundance to think about ; and 
the ramble reviewed at night before the andirons is a repetition of 
the day's enjoyment." 

If you will substitute walk for ramble in the preceding sentence, 
you will see how much the sentence loses by not using the synonym. 

Exercise 46. — In each of the following fill each blank with 
an appropriate synonym of the italicized word in the same 
sentence : — 

1. Be astir at , then, and receive the greeting of that 

lover of the dawn, the blackcap. 2. The thickened, 

so that now you waded through a condensation of gloom. 
3. The thrush filled every lone pathway with its sweet 
music, and I wondered that the world should hear so little 

of this woodside . 4. The sobering silence of the night 

was the subject of our conversation, when suddenly a sad, 

sweet song broke the . 5. In the city these conditions 

are not so well marked; but beyond the limits, nature 

still rules. 6. It was just the day for a ramble, and I was off 

early for an all-day , 7. The gale died away, and he 

tried to go northward again; but again came the and 

swept him back into the waste. 8. And what became of 



54 ELEMENTARY COMPOSITION 

the little , the poor boy in the pretty town of Marbach? 

9. He comes up the stairs and opens the door noiselessly. 

10. When the first week had p>assed, the queen took little 

Eliza into the country, and but a short month had when 

the king had entirely forgotten his little daughter. 

Exercise 47. — In the following use a synonym in place of one of 
the underlined words : — 

1. He has many ivealthy friends, although he is not 
a ivealthy man himself. 2. At his first glimpse of the coun- 
tenance, Ernest did fancy that there was a resemblance be- 
tween it and the familiar countenance upon the mountain side. 

3. Celia considered that it would be unsafe for two young 
maids of rank to travel in their rich clothes ; she therefore 
proposed that they should dress like country maids. 

4. When the servant of the house of Montague met the 
servant of the house of Capulet, a quarrel ensued; and 
frequent were the quarrels from such accidental meetings. 

5. Portia dressed herself and Nerissa in men's apparel, 
and putting on the apparel of a counselor, she took Nerissa 
with her as clerk and set out for Venice. 6. Portia now 
desired Shylock to let her see the bond ; and when she had 
read it she desired him to be merciful. 7. The importance 
of the arduous task Portia had engaged in gave her cour- 
age, and she boldly proceeded to perform the task she had 
undertaken. 8. The lady expressed great sorrow at hear- 
ing this, and said she wished to see the father of Helena, 
a young lady who was present. 9. The mourners sat in 
sileitce, with only a smothered sob now and then to break 
the silence. 10. She tried to comfort the sorrowful girl, 
biuVcould think of nothing that would comfort her. 

Exercise 48. — 1. Give one or more synonyms for each of the 
following words. Consult your dictionary. 

Dawn, neglect, perform, astonish, collect, bestow, appeal. 



WORDS 55 

destroy, attend, grieve, joy, brilliance, gloomy, happy, gentle, 
calm, excitable, fond, sweet, simple, just, honorable, gloam- 
ing, bewilder. 

2. Rearrange the following list, putting together all words that 
are synonyms : — 

Crime, smite, maid, fault, fervent, labor, reverence, ardent, 
instantly, respect, fraternal, quickly, work, glowing, entreat, 
toil, honor, brotherly, beg, venerate, beseech, gloaming, waste, 
importune, twilight, squander, glitter, shine, glisten, sparkle, 
offense, girl, strike, lass, sincere, faithful, transgression, 
true, desire, wish. 

A knowledge of synonyms, then, is valuable, since 
it enriches your vocabulary and enables you to give 
variety to your writing. There is still another way 
in which this knowledge may be useful to you. 
There is generally some slight difference in mean- 
ing, even in words classed as synonyms, and a wise 
choice will enable you to express your thought with 
more exactness. 

Example. " I frantically begged a, knot of sailors not to let them 
perish before our eyes." 

In the dictionary you will find the following synonyms for beg, 
with an explanation of the different shades of meaning : ask, en- 
treat, beseech, implore, supplicate. 

"One asks what he feels he may fairly claim ; he begs for that to 
which he advances no claim but pity ; entreat implies a special ear- 
nestness of asking, and beseech, a still added and more humble in- 
tensity. To implore is to ask with weeping and lamentation ; to 
supplicate is to ask, as it were, on bended knees." {Standard Diction- 
ary.) 

It would be better, then, to write, — 

" I frantically implored a knot of sailors not to let them perish 
before our eyes." 



56 ELEMENTARY COMPOSITION 

Exercise 49. — Choose one of the synonyms given in each of 
the following sentences. Consult your dictionary to get the dif- 
ferent shades of meaning. 

1. They were making out to me, in an [agitated, excited, 
disturbed] way that the lifeboat had been bravely manned 
an hour ago, and could do nothing. 

2. The thunder was loud and [ceaseless, incessant, continu- 
ous]. 

3. I was [perplexed, confused, distracted] by the terrible 
sight. 

4. The excited voice went [calling, crying, clamoring] 
along the staircase. 

5. I was [tired, fatigued, exhausted] with traveling and 
want of rest. 

6. I made a most [awkward, ridiculous, absurd, grotesque] 
appearance. 

7. A man is sometimes more [generous, liberal, open- 
handed] when he has but a little money than when he has 
plenty. 

8. Dost thou love life ? Then do not [squander, waste, 
spend] time. 

9. He [continued, admonished, warned, counseled, advised] 
me not to let so good an offer pass. 

10. The eagle listens to every sound, [looking, gazing, 
glancing] now and then to the earth beneath. 

Exercise 50. — Fill the blanks below with words from the 
following groups of synonyms : — 

I. Large, colossal, great, big, commodious, huge, vast, 
capacious, immense, spacious, huge. 

1. Joan of Arc rode at the head of a body of troops. 

2. Our world itself is a very place. 3. If a giant 

could travel all over the universe and gather worlds, all as 



WORDS . 57 

as ours, and were to make first a heap of merely ten 

such worlds, how it would be. 4. I pushed aside the 

heavy leathern curtain at the entrance, and stood in the 

nave. The cupola alone is sixty-five feet higher 

than the Bunker Hill Monument, and the four pillars 

on which it rests are each one hundred and thirty-seven feet 

in circumference. The awe I felt in looking up at the 

arch of marble and gold did not humble me. 5. The old 

lady drew a package of peppermints from her pocket. 

6. He lived in a mansion with rooms. 

II. Tiny, little, small, diminutive, minute. 

1. The Lilliputians were a very people. 2. Each 

point was carefully explained. 3. I met a cot- 
tage girl. 4. Far away in the forest, grew a pretty fir 

tree. 5. The lame boy was so that they called him 

Tim. 

Exercise 51. — Consult your dictionary to get the exact mean- 
ing of each word in the following two groups of synonyms. In- 
sert words in the blanks, using each word but once. 

1. Funny, odd, strange, queer, grotesque, peculiar. 

2. Brave, bold, daring, fearless, courageous, reckless. 

1. He told us of many happenings. 2. The bird has 

a cry. 3. We laughed at the story. 4. What an 

■ stick he is, to be sure. 5. faces were carved 

over the door. 6. It is a coincidence. 7. He was a 

bad man. 8. The soldier was foremost in the 

fray. 9. The deed w r as applauded. 10. He is a 

man, and never considers consequences. 11. He seems to 

be perfectly . 12. The fireman received a medal for 

his act. 

Exercise 52. — Do you see any difference in meaning in the 
pairs of words given below ? Write sentences using each correctly. 



58 ELEMENTARY COMPOSITION 

Artist, artisan; healthy, healthful; bring, fetch ; applause, 
praise ; propose, purpose ; in, into ; distinct, clear ; few, 
little; defend, protect; thankful, grateful; right, privilege; 
occasion, opportunity; custom, habit; brutal, brutish; 
temperance, abstinence; exile, banish; excuse, apology; 
duty, obligation; doubt, suspense; price, worth; interfere, 
interpose ; surprised, astonished ; flexible, pliable. 

20. Accuracy in the Use of Words. — Accuracy in 
the use of words comes from practice. It is better to 
blunder by using a word without a complete knowl- 
edge of its meaning than to be afraid to use any but 
the commonest words. Some words sound very much 
alike and yet have very different meanings, and some 
words are so nearly alike in meaning that it is almost or 
quite impossible to define the difference between them, 
though we may perhaps feel it. All that we can do, 
then, is simply to go on learning, using new words as 
fast as we get fairly well acquainted with them, and 
depending upon our teachers and older friends to 
point out to us when we are wrong. 

What we must avoid is the stupid habit of using 
words thoughtlessly, after the manner of the blunder- 
ing Mrs. Malaprop in Sheridan's Rivals, who said: — 

I would by no means wish a daughter of mine to be a 
progeny of learning ; I don't think so much learning becomes 
a young woman. ... As she grew up, I would have her in- 
structed in geometry that she might know something of the 
contagions countries; but above all, Sir Anthony, she should 
be mistress of orthodoxy, that she might not misspell and 
mispronounce words so shamefully as girls usually do; and 
likewise that she might reprehend the true meaning of what 



WORDS 59 

she is saying. This, Sir Anthony, is what I would have a 
woman know; and I don't think there is a superstitious 
article in it. 

Exercise 53. — Distinguish between the meaning of the follow- 
ing words : luxuriant and luxurious ; effect and affect ; disease and 
decease ; descent and dissent : principal and principle ; suspect and 
expect ; sensuous and sensible ; allude .and elude ; noted and noto- 
rious ; emigrant and immigrant ; ovation and innovation ; torpid and 
tepid. 

21. Figures of Speech. — There is a strange way we 
all have of using words in a sense different from that 
of ordinary expression. We say, for example, that a 
brave soldier " was a lion. " Of course, he was not a 
lion actually; he merely had certain qualities which 
w T e think lions have to a particularly great degree, that 
is, strength and courage. In the same way, especially 
in joke, we may speak of a person as an ass, a mule, a 
fox, a goose, an elephant, etc. Or, instead of saying 
that a soldier fought bravely, we may say that he 
fought like a lion, and similarly, that he was as stub- 
born as a mule, as keen as a fox, etc. We thus say 
either what a thing is not, or what it is like, instead of 
what it is. Such expressions are called figures (that is, 
forms) of speech. In a metaphor, one thing is called 
by the name of another. In a simile, one thing is said 
to be like another. 

We use both the metaphor and the simile quite 
frequently and naturally in our ordinary speech and 
writing, particularly when our feelings are aroused in 
any way. 

1. Bread is the staff of life. (Metaphor.) 



60 ELEMENTARY COMPOSITION 

2. The ground was an oven floor; and the breeze that passed 
by, the breath of a furnace. (Metaphor.) 

3. His eye glowed like a fiery spark. (Simile.) 

4. The carded wool, like a snowdrift, was piled at her knee. 
(Simile.) 

Exercise 54. — Pick out the metaphors and similes in the 
following sentences : — 

1. In this world a man must either be anvil or hammer. 
2. He beheld the lights in the houses, shining like stars in 
the dusk and mist of the evening. 3. Hearty and hale was 
he, an oak that is covered with snowflakes. 4. Their lives 
glide on like rivers that water the woodland. 5. Their 
hearts leaped like the roe, when he hears in the woodland 
the voice of the huntsman. 6. Life is a sheet of paper 
white. 7. Her eyes are stars ; her voice is music. 8. A fat 
little steamer rolled itself along like a sailor on shore. 
9. He glared at us like a tiger out of a jungle. 10. Corn- 
wallis, speaking of Washington, said he would " bag the old 
fox " in the morning. 11. He is a little chimney and 
heated hot in a moment. 12. John is the black sheep of 
the family. 13. She is like a gleam of sunlight on a dark 
day. 14. Pleasant words are as a honeycomb, sweet to the 
soul and health to the bones. 15. Her heart is as pure as 
the lilies. 

Exercise 55. — Change the following similes and metaphors to 
plain language : — 

1. Pie is a Samson. 2. He is a wet blanket. 3. They 
are a pair of turtle doves. 4. Never cross bridges until 
you come to them. 5. He is a tower of strength. 6. You 
are pure gold. 7. Night's candles are burnt out. 8. He is 
unstable as water. 9. He carries the world on his shoul- 
ders. 10. What a bear he is ! 11. That is a hard nut to 
crack. 12. Don't be a dog in the manger. 13. Mother 



WOBDS 61 

nature laughs around. 14. Don't rub him the wrong way. 
15. The Eoman mother said of her children, " These are my 
jewels. " 

Exercise 56. — Find similes or metaphors to express the follow- 
ing : — 

1. Time passes quickly. 2. Her eyes are very bright. 
3. The boat moved rapidly through the water. 4. She 
sings very sweetly. 5. The wind makes a sound in the 
tops of the pines. 6. He is very cross. 7. They are 
exceedingly poor. 8. Do not find fault with a gift. 
9. Her hair is fine and soft. 10. The night was very 
dark. 

Exercise 57. — I. Compare the two following passages. Xotice 
how the account of the beginning of the boat race loses in force 
by the changes from figurative language to plain language. 

1. Hark ! the first gun. The report sent Tom's heart 
into his mouth. The crowds on the bank began to be 
agitated by the shadow of the coming excitement. 

Long before the sound of the starting-gun can roll up the 
river, the pent-up life and energy which has been held in 
leash is let loose. 

2. Hark ! the first gun. The report made Tom nervous. 
The crowds on the bank began to be agitated by the 
thought of the coming excitement. 

Long before the sound of the starting-gun can be heard 
up the river, the life and energy which has been checked is 
released. 

II. Rewrite the following, changing the similes and metaphors 
to plain language. Notice how much the paragraph loses in force. 

Isn't he grand, the captain, as he comes forward like 
lightning, stroke after stroke ? As the space narrows, the 
fiery little cockswain's eyes flash with excitement. 



62 ELEMENTARY COMPOSITION 

Exercise 58. — Rewrite the following, using two or more similes 
or metaphors : — 

The first snow came. It covered the brown fields and 
green meadows. It protected the roots of the plants 
hidden under it. It was very white and clean. It covered 
the bushes and trees and fences with a soft white covering. 

Exercise 59. — Write sentences comparing the descent of an 
eagle upon its prey to the fall of a thunderbolt ; the falling of rain 
to weeping ; a cheerful face to a sunbeam ; the loss of hope to the 
setting of the sun ; a modest little girl to a violet ; a sailing vessel 
to a bird ; dandelions to pieces of gold ; a good book to a friend ; 
a burst of anger to a storm ; old age to sunset. 

Exercise 60. — Write a paragraph describing something you 
have seen in nature, — a brook, a meadow where cattle are 
grazing, a field of daisies, a waterfall, or anything else you may 
choose. Try to use at least one metaphor or simile. 

22. Mistakes in the Use of Words. — Let us now 
consider the principal errors which we are likely to 
make with regard to words. 

23. Spelling. — If our letters corresponded exactly 
to our English sounds, we could all spell fairly well, 
because we could use the symbols that answered to 
our pronunciation. But our letters do not agree 
well with our sounds; and there are many oddities and 
inconsistencies which cause the young student a great 
deal of trouble. Many plans have been proposed for 
simplifying our spelling, and it is to be hoped that 
eventually some wise scheme will be generally adopted, 
but that is not likely to come to pass for many years, 
and in the meantime we must follow the established 
custom. If we do not learn to spell in this way, we 



WORDS 63 

run the risk of being thought unintelligent and unedu- 
cated. As a matter of fact, however, students of your 
age are already over the worst of their troubles in this 
respect. All they have to do is to pay careful atten- 
tion to the form of words as they read, and to keep a 
list of the words which they spell incorrectly in their 
own compositions, making sure that they do not make 
the same mistake a second time. 

A set of rules which will be of service to you will be 
found in the Appendix. 

24. Slang. — By slang we mean strange words or 
expressions, not employed in serious or dignified compo- 
sition, whether written or spoken. They are some- 
times used in conversation, largely in jest, by persons 
of intelligence and education, but more generally by 
persons of defective education, who are not really 
acquainted with the forms of the language used by the 
educated classes. There can be no great objection to 
playing with words on occasions where play is appropri- 
ate, particularly when the speakers are young or full of 
boisterous fun. It is, however, unwise for young stu- 
dents to get the habit of thus playing with words so 
firmly established that they play when they should be 
serious, or that they become unfamiliar with really good 
English. Particular care should be taken to avoid 
slang that is vulgar or coarse. 

Here is an extract which is intended to represent the 
natural and playful speech of a boy of high spirits : — 

" I say, East, can't we get something else besides potatoes ? 
I've got lots of money, you know." 



64 ELEMENTARY COMPOSITION 

" Bless us, yes, I forgot/' said East, " you've only just 
come. You see all my tin's been gone this twelve weeks. 
I've got a tick at Sally's, of course; but then I hate running 
it high, you see, toward the end of the half, because one has 
to shell out for it all directly one comes back, and that's a 
bore." 

" Well, what shall I buy ? " said Tom, " I'm hungry." 
" I say," said East, " you're a trump, Brown. I'll do the 
same by you next half. Let's have a pound of sausages, then ; 
that's the best grub for teal know of." — Thomas Hughes : 
Tom Brow ft' s Schooldays. 

There is a certain vigor and picturesqueness of ex- 
pression here, and it would be absurd to expect boys, on 
all occasions, to speak like dictionaries. On the other 
hand, you will readily see that the italicized expressions 
in the following sentences would be wholly inappropri- 
ate in serious written composition. 

1. John made a bad break. 2. Your new hat is simply 
immense. 3. I think that's the limit. 4. Children should 
take a back seat. 5. He passed in his checks. 6. That's only 
a bluff. 7. He's a big chump. 8. The neople made a big 
kick. 9. That boy is a fresh kid. 10. He chucked the tea 
overboard. 

Exercise 6i. — Rewrite the sentences given above, substituting 
correct English for the slang words or expressions. 

What slang expression do you use most frequently? Write 
a paragraph explaining exactly what you mean by it. 

Exercise 62. — Point out the exaggeration in the use of the 
italicized words by giving the meaning of the word. Suggest words 
which might be substituted for them. 

1. We had an awfully good time. 2. Butter is frightfully 
dear. 3. I'm terribly tired. 4. We were horribly bored. 



WORDS 65 

5. He is tremendously pleased. 6. This is a magnificent 
lead pencil. 7. You are fearfully late this morning. 8. I 
adore chocolate fudge. 9. This is beautiful jelly cake. 
10. What a splendid apple ! 

25. Errors in the Forms of Words. — The following 
exercises will give you practice in the forms of words 
in which young students most often make mistakes. 

Exercise 63. — Write sentences containing the following : — 

Babies', women's, boy's, boys', girl's, children's, man's 
men's, girls', baby's, cats', cat's. 

Exercise 64. — Write from dictation : — 

1. The dog returns at John's jcall and rubs against his 
legs. He waits while his master's horse is dozing at the 
post, and his master talks within, and gossips with the other 
dogs, who are snapping at the flies. Nobody know r s how 
many dogs' characters are destroyed in this gossip. 2. Mal- 
colm entered the ladies' cabin and looked for a seat. A 
baby, who was pulling impatiently at its mother's dress, 
suddenly ran to him, crying, "Baby's papa," — to his great 
embarrassment. 3. It's now midnight. 4. Olive's skates 
are with Alice's. 0. Yours is not so well prepared as ours. 

6. Bead Dickens's "Christmas Carol." 

Exercise 65. — I. Fill the blanks with / or me. Give reasons for 
your choice. 

1. His lecture gave pleasure to Frank and . 2. He is 

cleverer than . 3. This is for you and . 4. Henry 

and went driving. 5. Is it you? It is . 6. May 

Ethel and remain after school? 7. There is an agree- 
ment between you and . 8. This story was read by 

. 9. My sister and were traveling through Yellow- 
stone Park. 



66 ELEMENTARY COMPOSITION 

II. Fill the blanks with we or us : — 

1. girls have formed a society. 2. He gave 

boys permission to leave early. 3. Was it whom you 

saw ? 4. You know that as well as . 5. You are far 

nobler than . 6. You can do it better than . 

7. He has promised to take our cousin and to the 

circus. 8. He wishes to give pleasure. 

III. Fill the blanks with he or him : — 

1. It was . 2. All except came early. 3. I 

can do it as well as . 4. Who saw it first, you or ? 

5. I have no time for children like you and . 6. What 

are you and doing ? 7. It was either or James 

that did it. 8. who had promised failed to fulfill his 

promise. 9. I thought it was . 10. I should not like 

to be . 

IV. Fill the blanks with she or her : — 

1. We gave one more chance. 2. and I are 

going. 3. You read better than . 4. Can it be — : — ? 

5. I am sure it is . 6. I will keep you and . 

7. and her friends have gone. 8. If I were 1 

would do it. 9. The fault lies between you and . 

10. I am going with -. 

V. Fill the blanks with they or them : — 

1. W T e are as good as . 2. Could it have been ? 

3. It was . 4. and their company have gone. 

5. We are not as well educated as . 

VI. Fill the blanks with who or ivhom: — 

1. are you to believe ? 2. do you think it was ? 

3. I like to help those deserve it. 4. Do you remem- 
ber you saw ? 5. Can you tell to believe ? 

6. can this be from ? 7. do you think this is ? 

8. I heard from a boy was a pupil. 9. He invited all 



WOBBS 67 



lie believed to be his friends. 10. He saw a man - 



he supposed to be the minister. 11. I gave it to the one 

seemed to need it most. 12. I hardly know to 

believe. 13. I have appointed a clerk I believe can 

be trusted. 14. We know you are. 15. Mary, 

is my friend, will certainly support me. 16. Lincoln 
was the man liberated the slaves. 17. If I can- 
not believe in her, in can I believe? 18. I will 

give it to the one gets here first. 19. They left me in 

doubt as to it was. 20. I have found my child 

was lost. 21. A man I expected to meet failed to 

arrive. 22. He spoke to the boy he pitied. 23. He 

helped the boy, had been deserted by his parents. 

24. He was a man was greatly beloved. 25. Helen, 

, I am told, is the winner of the medal, is a very studi- 
ous child. 

Exercise 66. — I. Use some form of verb set or sit: — 

1. the plant on the window sill. 2. He the 

table. 3. The hen is . 4. Harold is out tomato 

plants. 5. The shepherds on the ground in a row. 

6. They were there at nightfall. 7. He in the 

front seat. 8. She was by the fire. 9. We under 

the sycamore tree. 

II. Use some form of lie or lay : — 

1. still and rest. 2. He under the lilac bush. 

3. He was there when I arrived. 4. We her in 

the cold, moist earth. 5. Mary, on the couch. 6. The 

men are a board walk. 7. We have our plan. 

8.. The ship is in the harbor. 9. She has there 

since seven o'clock. 

III. Use some form of do : — 

1. My work is . 2. He (past tense) his work 



68 ELEMENTARY COMPOSITION 

well. 3. We (past tense) our duty. 4. Has he 

it yet ? 5. You (past tense) it. 

IV. Use some form of bring or take : — 

1. Horace his teacher a rose. 2. Miss Klein it 

home with her. 3. Frank, me your book. 4. He 

it to me. 5. He has it to me. 6. He his dog in- 
to the garden. 7. He has it home. 

V. Use some form of learn and teach : — 

1. — — me to sew. 2. Mother has me to knit. 3. 

I have how to sew. 4. I am how to cook. 5. 

She her brother how to skate. 6. She is him to 

be fearless. 

VI. Use some form of see : — 

1. I the sunset. 2. I have the sunset. 3. He 

has the procession. 4. He it now. 

VII. Use correctly in sentences see, saw, seen. 

VIII. Use in sentences all forms of the following verbs : — 
Go, drive, break, do, ring, run, bring, lie, lay, sit, set, teach, 

read, know, take. 

IX. Change the form of the verbs below from present to perfect 
or past perfect : — 

1. The boy runs rapidly. 2. The old man rings the bell 
at sundown. 3. I saw the lights of the village. 4. Tiny 
Tim sings very sweetly. 5. We sit by the fire in the gloam- 
ing. 6. Mr. Towne teaches drawing. 7. Mary reads well. 
8. He lays fresh flowers on her grave. 9. He sets a light in 
the window. 10. Mary plays the piano. 



CHAPTER V 
CONDENSATION, EXPANSION, AND PARAPHRASE 

26. Writing in which the Ideas are already at Hand. 

— Young people have an abundance of things to write 
about. Their lives are usually full of interesting inci- 
dents, and their minds are fresh and eager. Before 
passing on, however, to the principal part of composition, 
that in which the writer expresses his own ideas, let us 
undertake a little practice in a form of composition in 
which the ideas are furnished us. We shall thus not 
have to devote so much effort to thinking what we are 
going to write, and can devote all the more attention to 
the pleasing form of what we write. 

27. Condensation. — Here are two well-written and 
clear paragraphs on an interesting topic, and beneath 
each are two or three pleasing sentences which give the 
same idea in a shorter or condensed form. 

1. Centuries ago, in a remote village among some wild 
hills in France, there lived a country maiden, Joan of Arc, 
who was at this time in her twentieth year. She had been 
a solitary girl from her childhood ; she had often tended sheep 
and cattle for whole days where no human figure was seen or 
human voice was heard ; and she had often knelt, for hours 
together, in the gloomy empty little village chapel, looking 
up at the altar and at the dim lamp burning before it, until 

69 



70 ELEMENTARY COMPOSITION 

she fancied that she saw shadowy figures standing there, 

and even that she heard them speak to her Charles 

Dickens : A Child's History of England. 

Joan of Arc lived centuries ago in a remote French village. 
Her childhood had been a solitary one. Often she was for days 
alone with her sheep, and she knelt long alone in the gloomy 
village chapel, where she fancied that she saw shadowy shapes 
that spoke to her. 

2. I think it was Hans, our Eskimo hunter, who thought 
he saw a broad sledge track. The drift had nearly effaced it, 
and we were some of us doubtful at first whether it was not 
one of those accidental rifts which the gales make in the sur- 
face snow. But, as we traced it on to the deep snow among 
the hummocks, we were led to footsteps ; and, following 
these with religious care, we at last came in sight of a small 
American flag fluttering from a hummock, and lower down a 
little banner hanging from a tent pole hardly above the drift. 
It was the camp of our disabled comrades ; we reached it 
after an unbroken march of twenty-one hours. — E. E. Kane : 
Arctic Explorations. 

Hans, our Eskimo hunter, found what seemed to be the faint 
traces of a sledge, and this led us to footsteps. Following these 
with great care, we came at length to the camp of our disabled 
comrades. 

Exercise 67. — Condense the following paragraphs, making your 
sentences pleasing to the ear : — 

1. In order to begin at the beginning of the story, let us 
suppose that we go into a country garden one fine morning 
in May, when the sun is shining brightly overhead, and that 
we see hanging from the bough of an old apple tree a black 
object which looks very much like a large plum pudding. 
On approaching it, however, we see that it is a large cluster 
or swarm of bees clinging to each other by their legs ; each 



CONDENSATION 71 

bee with its two fore legs clinging to the hinder legs of the 
one above it. In this way as many as twenty thousand bees 
may be clinging together, and yet they hang so freely that 
a bee, even from quite the center of the swarm, can disen- 
gage herself from her neighbors and pass through to the 

outside of the cluster whenever she wishes Arabella 

Buckley : Fairyland of Science, 

2. This warning stopped all speech, and the hardy mari- 
ners, knowing that they had already done all in the power 
of man to insure their safety, stood in breathless anxiety, 
awaiting the result. At a short distance ahead of them the 
whole ocean was white with foam, and the waves, instead of 
rolling on in regular succession, appeared to be tossing madly 
about. A single streak of dark billows, not half a cable's 
length in width, could be discerned running into this chaos 
of water; but it was soon lost to the eye amid the confusion. 
Along this narrow path the vessel moved more heavily than 
before, being brought so near the wind as to keep her sails 
touching. The pilot silently proceeded to the wheel, and 
•with his own hands undertook the steering of the ship. 
No noise proceeded from the frigate to interrupt the horrid 
tumult of the ocean ; and she entered the channel among the 
breakers in dead silence. — James Fenimore Cooper : The Pilot. 

28. Method in Condensation. — The length of any 
piece of writing depends upon the purpose for which it 
is intended. For instance, the answer to the question, 
" Who was Abraham Lincoln?" might, according to the 
circumstances, be given in a paragraph, in a page, or in a 
chapter; or it might be expanded into a work of many 
volumes. If you were required, in preparation for a 
written lesson in history or geography, to read several 



72 ELEMENTARY COMPOSITION 

pages, you would not be expected to write all you had 
read, but to be able to condense; that is, to omit de- 
tails and select the most important points. The ability 
to decide which points are the important ones, and which 
may be omitted with least loss to the passage, will be of 
great value to you in all your"serious reading and study. 
The following suggestions will help you in condens- 
ing:— 

1. Read the whole passage through carefully. 

2. Pick out the things so important that they must 
be retained. As a rule, the more important the point, the 
greater the space the author allots to it. Drop the minor 
points. 

3. Arrange the facts you decide to retain in order of im- 
portance, and in condensing the passage give most space to 
the most important points. 

Read, for example, the following narrative, and no- 
tice the condensation printed below it: — 

In the reign of the great caliph, there lived in the city of 
Bagdad a celebrated barber, of the name of Ali. He was 
famous for a steady hand, and could shave a head, or trim 
your beard or whiskers, with his eyes blindfolded. There 
was not a man of fashion at Bagdad who did not employ 
him; and such a run of business had he that at length he 
became very proud and insolent. 

Firewood was always scarce and dear at Bagdad; and it 
happened one day that a poor woodcutter, ignorant of the 
character of Ali, stopped at his shop, to sell him a load of 
wood, which he had just brought from a distance on his 
donkey. Ali immediately offered him a certain sum "for all 
the wood that teas upon the donkey." The woodcutter agreed, 
unloaded his beast, and asked for the money. 



CONDENSATION 73 

"You have not given me all the wood yet/' said the bar- 
ber. " I must have your wooden pack saddle into the bargain : 
that was our agreement." 

"What!" said the other, in great amazement; "who ever 
heard of such a bargain ? It is impossible." 

But after many words the overbearing barber seized the 
pack saddle, wood, and all, and sent away the poor peasant 
in great distress. The woodcutter then ran to the judge and 
stated his griefs; the judge was one of the barber's customers, 
and refused to hear the case. Then he went to a higher 
judge ; he also patronized Ali, and made light of the com- 
plaint. 

The poor woodcutter was not disheartened, but forthwith 
got a scribe to write a petition to the caliph himself. The 
caliph's punctuality in reading petitions is well known, 
and it was not long before the woodcutter was called to his 
presence. When he had approached the caliph, he kneeled 
and kissed the ground ; and then, folding his arms before him, 
his hands covered with the sleeves of his cloak, and his feet 
close together, he awaited the decision of his case. 

" Friend," said the caliph, " the barber has words on his 
side: you have equity on yours. The law must be defined 
by words, and agreements must be made by words. The law 
must have its course, or it is nothing; and agreements must 
be kept, or there would be no good faith between man and 
man. Therefore the barber must keep all his wood, but" — 

Then calling the woodcutter close to him, the caliph 
whispered something in his ear, and sent him away quite 
satisfied. The woodcutter, having made obeisance, took his 
donkey by the halter, and returned home. 

A few days later he applied to the barber, as if nothing 
had happened between them, requesting that he, and a com- 
panion of his from the country, might enjoy the dexterity of 



74 ELEMENTARY COMPOSITION 

his hand; and the price for which both operations were to 
be performed was settled. When the woodcutter's beard had 
been properly shaved, Ali asked where his companion was. 
"He is standing just outside/' said the woodcutter; "he shall 
come in at once." Accordingly he went out, and led in his 
donkey by the halter. "This is my companion/' said he: 
"shave him." 

"Shave him!" exclaimed the barber, in a rage: "is it not 
enough that I should degrade myself by touching you, but 
you must insult me by asking me to shave your donkey ? 
Away with you ! " 

The woodcutter immediately went to the caliph and related 
his case. " Bring Ali and his razors to me this instant," 
exclaimed the caliph to one of his officers ; and in the course 
of ten minutes the barber stood before him. "'Why do you 
refuse to shave this man's companion ? " said the caliph to 
the barber : " was not that your agreement ? " Ali, kissing the 
ground, answered, " It is true, caliph, that such was our 
agreement ; but who ever made a companion of a donkey 
before ? " 

"True enough," said the caliph; "but who ever thought 
of insisting upon a pack saddle's being included in a load of 
wood ? No, no, it is the woodcutter's turn now. Shave this 
donkey instantly! " 

So the barber was compelled to prepare a great quantity 
of soap, to lather the beast from head to foot, and to shave 
him in the presence of the caliph and of the whole court, 
whilst he was jeered and mocked by the bystanders. The 
poor woodcutter was then dismissed with a present of money; 
and all Bagdad resounded with the story, and praised the 
justice of the caliph. 

There was once in Bagdad a barber who was so skillful that he 
was employed by all the men of fashion, and who became so proud 



CONDENSATION 75 

that he would seldom work for any but men of rank. One day a 
poor woodcutter came to his shop to sell a load of wood. Ali of- 
fered him a sum of money for " all the wood upon the donkey." 
The woodcutter agreed, whereupon Ali seized the wooden pack 
saddle as well as the wood, saying it was included in the 
bargain. 

After in rain seeking redress from the judges, the peasant went 
to the caliph, who decided that, according to the terms made, the 
bargain must stand; but, calling the woodcutter to him, he whis- 
pered something in his ear. 

A few days afterward the woodcutter asked the barber to shave 
him and a companion from the country, agreeing to pay the price 
asked by the barber. After the woodcutter had been attended to, 
the barber asked for the companion, whereupon the woodcutter led 
in his donkey. The barber in rage drove them from his shop, but 
the woodcutter immediately went to the caliph and stated his case. 
The tables were now turned, for the caliph decided in favor of the 
woodcutter. The barber was obliged to shave the beast in the 
presence of the caliph and the whole court, who mocked at him ; 
and the woodcutter was dismissed with a rich present. 

Exercise 68. In a similar way condense this account of the 
battle of Hastings into about two hundred words. 

In the middle of the month of October, in the year 
one thousand and sixty-six, the Normans and the English 
came front to front. All night the armies lay encamped 
before each other in a part of the country then called 
Senlac, now called Battle. With the first dawn of day 
they arose. There, in the faint light, were the English on 
a hill. A wood lay behind them, and in their midst was 
the royal banner, representing a fighting warrior, woven 
in gold thread, adorned with precious stones. 

Beneath the banner, as it rustled in the wind, stood 
King Harold on foot, with two of his remaining brothers 
by his side; around them, still and silent as the dead, 
clustered the whole English army — every soldier covered 



76 ELEMENTARY COMPOSITION 

by his shield, and bearing in his hand the dreaded English 
battle-ax. 

On an opposite hill, in three lines, — archers, foot 
soldiers, and horsemen, — was the Norman force. Of a 
sudden, a great battle cry, " God help us ! " burst from the 
Norman lines. The English answered with their own 
battle cry, " God's Eood ! Holy Eood ! " The Normans 
then came sweeping down the hill to attack the English. 

There was one tall Norman knight who rode before the 
Norman army on a prancing horse, throwing up his heavy 
sword and catching it, and singing of the bravery of his 
countrymen: An English knight, who rode out from the 
English force to meet him, fell by this knight's hand. 
Another English knight rode out, and he also fell; but 
then a third rode out and killed the Norman. 

The English, keeping side by side in a great mass, 
cared no more for the showers of Norman arrows than 
if they had been showers of Norman rain. When the 
Norman horsemen rode against them, with their battle- 
axes they cut men and horses down. The Normans gave 
way. The English pressed forward. A cry went forth 
among the Norman troops that Duke William was killed. 
Duke William took off his helmet, in order that his face 
might be distinctly seen, and rode along the line before 
his men. This gave them courage. 

As they turned again to face the English, some of their 
Norman horse divided the pursuing body of the English 
from the rest, and thus all that foremost portion of the 
English army fell, fighting bravely. 

The main body still remaining firm, heedless of the 
Norman arrows, and with their battle-axes cutting down 
the crowds of horsemen when they rode up, like forests of 
young trees, Duke William pretended to retreat. The 



CON DENS A TION 7 7 

eager English, followed. The Norman army closed again 
and fell upon them with great slaughter. 

"Still," said Duke William, "there are thousands of 
the English firm as rocks around their king. Shoot up- 
ward, Norman archers, that your arrows may fall down 
upon their faces." 

The sun rose high, and sank, and the battle still raged. 
Through all the wild October day, the clash and din 
resounded in the air. In the red sunset, and in the white 
moonlight, heaps upon heaps of dead men lay strewn, a 
dreadful spectacle, all over the ground. 

King Harold, wounded with an arrow in the eye, was 
nearly blind. His brothers were already killed. Twenty 
Norman knights now dashed forward to seize the royal 
banner from the English knights and soldiers, still faith- 
fully collected round their blinded king. The king re- 
ceived a mortal wound and dropped. The English broke 
and fled. The Normans rallied, and the day was lost. 

Oh, what a sight beneath the moon and stars when 
lights were shining in the tent of the victorious Duke 
William, which was pitched near the spot where Harold 
fell — and he and his knights were carousing within — 
and soldiers with torches, going slowly to and fro without, 
sought for the corpse of Harold among piles of dead — 
and Harold's banner, worked in golden thread and precious 
stones, lay low, all torn and soiled with blood — and the 
Duke's flag, with three Norman lions upon it, kept watch 
over the field. — Charles Dickens: A Child's History of Eng- 
land. 

Exercise 69. — Condense such of the passages suggested below 
as your teacher may indicate. 

1. The passage quoted on pages 88-90. 

2. The passage quoted on pages 144-148 (or 182-185). 



78 ELEMENTARY COMPOSITION 

3. A passage from your text-book in history or geography. 

4. An account (of a fire, for instance), from a daily or weekly 
paper. 



29. Expansion. — An exercise just the opposite of the 
preceding is also highly profitable to young writers. 
Here, for example, are two sentences that will suggest 
a good deal to you. You will see at once that it is 
easy to expand them into a larger piece of writing, 
and just below is an entire paragraph which is based 
on these sentences. 

1. Lord Fairfax asked George Washington to survey his 
lands in Virginia. The boy was very glad to do so, for he 
loved a wild and adventurous life. 

2. Lord Fairfax wished very much to have his lands in 
the valley of Virginia surveyed, and he asked young George 
Washington if he would undertake the work. The boy was 
very glad to do so. Nothing could have pleased him better 
than work of this sort. He loved the open air and horse- 
back riding; he would delight to explore that grand and 
beautiful country where Indians and wild animals still 
roamed at will ; and he at once began to make ready for his 
journey. 

Here is another example of the same process : — 

1. The Mayflower sailed on the 16th of September. After 
a long and stormy voyage the Pilgrims sighted land. 

2. On the 16th of September the sails were spread once 
more, and the Mayflower glided out upon the waters of 
the broad Atlantic. Fierce storms arose, and the vessel was 
tossed like an eggshell upon the waves. The main beam 
was wrenched from its place, and the ship was in danger of 
breaking in pieces. One passenger fell overboard and was 



EXPANSION 79 

lost. At length, on the 19th of November, the joyful cry 
of land rang through the ship. All eyes were strained to 
see the welcome sight. There it was — a long reach of 
sandy shore with dark forest trees in the background. The 
hard, dangerous voyage was almost at an end. The Pilgrims 
were nearly home. 

Exercise 70. — You will now be ready to try this form of writing 
for yourselves. Below are given a number of short and suggestive 
statements. Expand them, using your own imagination to fill out 
the material, and trying, in each case, to make your sentences 
pleasing to the ear. 

1. Eip Van Winkle was a great -favorite among the good 
wives of the village. The children, too, loved him, and 
followed him about. 

2. The Catskill Mountains lie to the west of the Hudson 
Eiver. They are very beautiful. 

3. The news of Lexington and Concord was sent to Phila- 
delphia. Here the Continental Congress was assembled. 
The members agreed upon Washington as commander-in- 
chief of the Continental Army. 

30. The Purpose of Expansion. — We sometimes ex- 
pand passages in order to make them clearer by expla- 
nation or illustration. 

Examples. 1. In the Old World there are various grades 
of society, and it is almost impossible for a boy born in the 
lower to rise into the higher ranks. In this country this is 
not so ; every man is as good as his neighbor. 

2. In the aristocracies of the Old World, wealth and society 
are built up like the strata of rock which compose the crust 
of the earth. If a boy be born in the lowest stratum of life, 
it is almost impossible for him to rise through the hard crust 



80 ELEMENTARY COMPOSITION 

into the higher ranks ; but in this country it is not so. The 
strata of our society resemble rather the ocean, where every 
drop, even the lowest, is free to mingle with all others, and 
may shine at last on the crest of the highest wave. This is 
the glory of our country, and you need not fear that there 
are any obstacles which will prove too great for any brave 
heart. 

Exercise 71. — Expand into a paragraph such of the follow- 
ing statements as your teacher may indicate : — 

1. The early bird catches the worm. 

2. If you would be well served, serve yourself. 

3. For want of a nail, the shoe was lost ; for want of a 
shoe, the horse was lost ; for want of a horse, the rider was 
lost ; for want of the rider, the army was lost. 

4. Benedict Arnold's last request, it is said, was that 
he might die in his old American uniform ; his last prayer, 
that God would forgive him for ever having put on any other. 

5. After Washington's retreat from Long Island in 
September, 1776, he needed information as to the British 
fortifications. A young American officer, Nathan Hale, 
volunteered to get the information. While inside of the 
enemy's lines he was taken prisoner and hanged as a spy. 
With his latest breath he regretted that he had only one life 
to lose for his country. 

31. Paraphrase. — There is just one further kind of 
writing, in which the ideas, are given you, that will be 
profitable to you as practice. This is paraphrase. To 
paraphrase a piece of writing is to restate it in your 
own words and in a simpler form. 

You used one form of paraphrasing in the exercise 
on page 60, when you explained figurative expressions 



PABAPHRASE 81 

by changing them into simpler or plainer language. In 
figurative language a resemblance between things other- 
wise unlike is pointed out or taken for granted, 'and in 
order to understand the author's meaning you must be 
able to discover the resemblance. By reducing the 
figure to plain language you make sure that you under- 
stand it; and you are often led in this way to see much 
more clearly the beauty or the force of the figure. 

In a similar manner paraphrasing will aid you in 
understanding difficult passages, whether in verse or in 
prose, which you may come on in your reading. It is said 
of Lincoln that whenever he read anything that seemed 
to him very difficult, he would try to express it so sim- 
ply that people who knew less than he could understand 
it. Perhaps this is one reason why Lincoln's speeches 
and writings are so beautifully clear. 

Examples. 1. The reports of the expedition demon- 
strated the practicability of establishing a line of communi- 
cation across the continent, from the Atlantic to the Pacific 
Ocean. 

The reports of the expedition proved that it would be possible 
to build a road across the continent, from the Atlantic to the 
Pacific Ocean. 

2. Two leading objects of commercial gain have given 
birth to wide and daring enterprise in the early history of 
the Americas, the precious metals of the south and the rich 
peltries of the north. While the Spaniard, inflamed with 
the mania for gold, has extended his discoveries and, con- 
quests over those brilliant countries scorched by the ardent 
sun of the tropics, the Frenchman and Englishman have 
pursued the no less lucrative traffic in furs amid the hyper- 
borean regions of the Canadas. — Washington Irving : Astoria. 



82 ELEMENTARY COMPOSITION 

Two important objects of commerce have given birth to daring 
undertakings in the early history of North and South America. 
These are the gold and silver of the south and the rich furs of the 
north. The Spaniard, mad for gold, has explored and conquered 
the tropical countries. Meanwhile, the Frenchman and the 
Englishman have followed the equally profitable traffic in furs in 
the far northern regions of Canada. 

3. Meanwhile the choleric captain strode wrathful away 

• to the council, 

Found it already assembled, impatiently waiting his 
coming ; 

Men in the middle of life, austere and grave in deport- 
ment, 

Only one of them old, the hill that was nearest to 
heaven, 

Covered with snow, but erect, the excellent Elder of 
Plymouth. 
— H. W. Longfellow: The Courtship of Miles Standish. 

Meanwhile the quick-tempered captain strode wrathfully away 
to the council, which he found already assembled, and impatiently 
waiting his coming. They were middle-aged men, stern and 
grave in bearing. Only one of them was old, the excellent Elder 
of Plymouth, but he still stood erect, though his hair was white — 
like the snow cap on a tall mountain. 

Exercise 72. — Paraphrase the following ; try to express the 
thought so simply that people who know less than you do can 
understand it. 

1. It was not until the year 1776 that the fur trade 
regained its old channels ; but it was then pursued with 
much avidity and emulation by individual merchants, and 
soon transcended its former bounds. — Washington Irving : 
Astoria. 

2. It is characteristic of such a people [the Aztecs] to 
find a puerile pleasure in ft dazzling and ostentatious 



PARAPHRASE 83 

pageantry ; to mistake show for substance ; vain pomp for 
power ; to hedge round the throne itself with barren and 
burdensome ceremonial, the counterfeit of real majesty. — 
W. H. Prescott : The Conquest of Mexico, 

3. The messenger found access to the benignant princess 
and delivered the epistle of the friar. Isabella had always 
been favorably disposed to the proposition of Columbus. 
She wrote in reply to Juan Perez, thanking him for his 
timely service, and requesting that he would repair imme- 
diately to the court, leaving Columbus in confident hope 
until he should hear further from her. — Washington Ir- 
ving : Life of Columbus. 

4z. It cannot be disputed that the light toil requisite to 
cultivate a moderately sized garden imparts such zest to 
kitchen vegetables as is never found in those of the market 
gardener. Childless men, if they would know something of 
the bliss of paternity, should plant a seed with their own 
hands and nurse it from infancy to maturity altogether by 
their own care. — Nathaniel Hawthorne : Mosses from an Old 
Manse. 

5. Dorcas nourished her apprehensions in silence till 
one afternoon when Eeuben awoke from an unquiet sleep 
and seemed to recognize her more perfectly than at any 
previous time. She saw that his intellect had become com- 
posed, and she could no longer restrain her filial anxiety. 
— From the same. 

Exercise 73. — Paraphrase the following passages : — 

1. Ah, no longer wizard Fancy 

Builds her castles in the air, 
Luring me by necromancy 

Up the never-ending stair. 
But instead she builds me bridges 

Over many a dark ravine, 



84 ELEMENTARY COMPOSITION 

Where beneath the gusty ridges 
Cataracts dash and roar unseen. 

— H. W. Longfellow : The Bridge of Cloud. 

2. For a cap and bells our lives we pay, 

Bubbles we buy with a whole soul's tasking ; 
"lis heaven alone that is given away, 

'Tis only God may be had for the asking ; 
No price is set on the lavish summer ; 
June may be had by the poorest comer. 

— J. R,. Lowell : The Vision of Sir Launfal. 

3. Oh, for festal dainties spread, 
Like my bowl of milk and bread ; 
Pewter spoon and bowl of wood, 
On the door stone, gray and rude ! 
O'er me, like a regal tent, 
Cloudy-ribbed, the sunset bent, 
Purple-curtained, fringed with gold, 
Looped in many a wind-swung fold ; 
While for music came the play 
Of the pied frogs' orchestra ; 
And, to light the noisy choir, 
Lit the fly his lamp of fire. 
I was monarch : pomp and joy 
Waited on the barefoot boy. 

— J. G. Whittier: The Barefoot Boy. 

32. Paraphrase of Complete Compositions. — It is 

also sometimes a helpful exercise to paraphrase, not an 
extract, but a complete poem or short piece of prose, in 
order to make sure that you understand it thoroughly. 
This often requires a good deal of study, for details, 
which you had not at first noticed, but which are 



PARAPHRASE 85 

essential to the meaning, need to be carefully thought 
out. 

Read, for example, Longfellow's delightful poem, 
Walter Von der Vogelweid and then the paraphrase 
that follows. 

Vogelweid the Minnesinger, 

When he left this world of ours, 

Laid his body in the cloister, 

Under Wtirtzburg's minster towers. 

And he gave the monks his treasures, 

Gave them all with his behest : 
They should feed the birds at noontide 

Daily on his place of rest ; 

Saying, " From these wandering minstrels 

I have learned the art of song ; 
Let me now repay the lessons 

They have taught so well and long." 

Thus the bard of love departed ; 

And, fulfilling his desire, 
On his tomb the birds were feasted 

By the children of the choir. 

Day by day, o'er tower and turret, 

In foul weather and in fair, 
Day by day, in vaster numbers, 

Flocked the poets of the air. 

On the tree, whose heavy branches 

Overshadowed all the place, 
On the pavement, on the tombstone, 

On the poet's sculptured face, 



86 ELEMENTARY COMPOSITION 

On the crossbars of each window, 

On the lintel of each door, 
They renewed the War of Wartburg, 

Which the bard had fought before. 

There they sang their merry carols, 

Sang their lauds on every side ; 
And the name their voices uttered 

Was the name of Vogelweid. 

Till at length the portly abbot 

Murmured, " Why this waste of food ? 

Be it changed to loaves henceforward 
For our fasting brotherhood." 

Then in vain o'er tower and turret, 
From the walls and woodland nests, 

When the minster bells rang noontide, 
Gathered the unwelcome guests. 

Then in vain, with cries discordant, 
Clamorous round the Gothic spire, 

Screamed the feathered Minnesingers 
For the children of the choir. 

Time has long effaced the inscriptions 
On the cloister's funeral stones, 

And tradition only tells us 

Where repose the poet's bones. 

But around the vast cathedral, 

By sweet echoes multiplied, 
Still the birds repeat the legend, 

And the name of Vogelweid. 

Walter Von der Vogelweid was an old German Minne- 
singer, that is, a poet who sang of love, and his name means 



PARAPHRASE 87 

Walter of the Bird-meadow. When he passed from this 
world, his body was laid in the cloister under the towers of 
the cathedral of Wiirtzburg. He gave all his property to 
the monks, on condition that they should feed the birds that 
flew about his grave. " For," said he, " I want to repay the 
birds, who have taught me the art of song." 

Every noon, as Walter had desired, the children of the 
choir fed the birds about his tomb. Day after day, in 
larger and larger numbers, these small wandering minstrels 
flocked to be fed, in fair or stormy weather. On the tree 
that overshadowed his grave, on the pavement, on the tomb- 
stone, even on the face of the marble statue of the poet, 
they would cluster, singing in rivalry as he had once sung 
in competition with other poets at the castle of Wartburg. 
And in their carols was always the name of Vogelweid. 

At last the abbot determined that this waste of food 
should not continue, but that loaves of bread should be 
bought instead for the fasting priests. After this the birds 
clamored in vain for the children who had fed them. 

Time has long since worn away the inscription on the 
tombstone of the cloister, and now there is nothing to tell 
us where the poet's bones rest ; but around the cathedral 
the sweet voices of the birds still repeat the story and the 
name of Walter Von der Vogelweid. 

Exercise 74. Paraphrase such complete poems or prose pas- 
sages as your teacher may indicate. 

Suggested poems : — 1. Longfellow's The Legend of the Crossbill, 
or The Wreck of the Hesperus. 2. Tennyson's Lady Clare. 3. 
Browning's An Incident of the French Camp. 4. Scott's Lochinvar. 
5. Campbell's Lord Ullin's Daughter. 6. Bayard Taylor's A Song 
of the Camp. 7. Whittier's Telling the Bees. 8. Kingsley's The 
Sands 0' Dee. 9. Leigh Hunt's Abou Ben Adhem. 10. Lowell's 
The Courtin\ 



CHAPTER VI 
WHOLE COMPOSITIONS; OUTLINES 

33. Whole Compositions. — You have now studied 
the combination of words into sentences and the com- 
bination of sentences into paragraphs. You must 
meanwhile have guessed that there is a still larger 
process of composition, — the combining of paragraphs 
into the essay or chapter or book. This process we 
must now examine briefly. 

Read the following passage, which, to be sure, is not 
exactly a whole composition in itself, for it forms a 
part of a long essay on a visit to Shakspere's birth- 
place. It is sufficiently long, however, to show how 
paragraphs are combined. 

I had come to Stratford on a poetical pilgrimage. My 
first visit was to the house where Shakspere was born, and 
where, according to tradition, he was brought up to his 
father's craft of wool-combing. It is a small, mean-looking 
edifice of wood and plaster, a true nestling place of genius, 
which seems to delight in hatching its offspring in by- 
corners. The walls of its squalid chambers are covered 
with names and inscriptions in every language, by pilgrims 
of all nations, ranks, and conditions, from the prince to the 
peasant ; and present a simple, but striking instance of the 
spontaneous and universal homage of mankind to the great 
poet of nature. 

The house is shown by a garrulous old lady, in a frosty 

88 



WHOLE COMPOSITIONS ; OUTLINES 89 

red face, lighted up by a cold blue anxious eye, and gar- 
nished with artificial locks of flaxen hair, curling from 
under an exceedingly dirty cap. She was peculiarly assidu- 
ous in exhibiting the relics with which this, like all other 
celebrated shrines, abounds. There was the shattered stock 
of the very matchlock with which Shakspere shot the deer, 
on his poaching exploits. There, too, was his tobacco box ; 
which proves that he was a rival smoker of Sir Walter 
Raleigh ; the sword also with which he played Hamlet ; 
and the identical lantern with which Friar Laurence dis- 
covered Romeo and Juliet at the tomb! 

The most favorite object of curiosity, however, is 
Shakspere' s chair. It stands in the chimney nook of a 
small gloomy chamber, just behind what was his father's 
shop. Here he may many a time have sat when a boy, 
watching the slowing revolving spit with all the longing of 
an urchin ; or of an evening, listening to the cronies and 
gossips of Stratford, dealing forth churchyard tales and 
legendary anecdotes of the troublesome times of England. 
In this chair it is the custom of every one that visits the 
house to sit : whether this be done with the hope of imbib- 
ing any of the inspiration of the bard I am at a loss to say 
— I merely mention the fact ; and mine hostess privately 
assured me, that, though built of solid oak, such was the 
fervent zeal of devotees, that the chair had to be new 
bottomed at least once in three years. It is worthy of 
notice also, in the history of this extraordinary chair, that 
it partakes something of the volatile nature of the Santa 
Casa of Loretto, or the flying chair of the Arabian en- 
chanter ; for though sold some few years since to a northern 
princess, yet, strange to tell, it has found its way back again 
to the old chimney. 

I am always of easy faith in such matters, and am ever 



90 ELEMENTARY COMPOSITION 

willing to be deceived, where the deceit is pleasant and 
costs nothing. I am therefore a ready believer in relics, 
legends, and local anecdotes of goblins and great men ; and 
would advise all travelers who travel for their gratification 
to be the same. What is it to us, whether these stories be 
true or false, so long as we can persuade ourselves into the 
belief of them, and enjoy all the charms of the reality ? 
There is nothing like resolute good-humored credulity in 
these matters ; and on this occasion I went even so far as 
willingly to believe the claims of mine hostess to a lineal 
descent from the poet, when, unluckily for my faith, she 
put into my hands a play of her own composition, which set 
all belief in her consanguinity at defiance. — Washington 
Irving: Stratford-on-Avon. 

You will notice that the opening sentences give you 
a hint of what is coming. You will also notice that 
the author has a separate thought for each para- 
graph: — 

1. The house in general. 

2. The relics exhibited by the housekeeper. 

3. The most interesting relic ; its history. 

4. The author's " good-humored credulity. " 

These thoughts, when taken together, build up in the 
reader's mind a larger thought, just as the thoughts 
expressed in each sentence in a paragraph, when taken 
together, build up in the reader's mind a smaller idea. 

Furthermore, you will notice how careful the writer 
has been to build up that idea in the reader's mind 
clearly and easily. He began with a thought that was 
easy to grasp and that gave you a hint of what was 
coming 



WHOLE COMPOSITIONS ; OUTLINES 91 

Here is another good instance of an author's skill in 
planning his work : — 

Let us consider briefly the structure of the earth, study- 
ing first its crust, second its interior, third its atmosphere. 

It has been found that what is called the earth's crust — 
that is, the outside of the earth, as the peel is the outside of 
an orange — is composed of various rocks of different kinds 
and ages, all of them, however, belonging to two great 
classes : stratified [that is, deposited in layers] rocks and 
igneous [made by fire] rocks. The stratified rocks have 
been deposited by water, principally by the sea. This is 
proved by two facts : first, in their formation they resemble 
the beds lying deposited by water at the present time; 
secondly, they nearly all contain remains of fishes and 
shell-fish. Such remains, being dug out of the earth, are 
called fossils, from the Latin fossilis, dug. The whole 
series of sedimentary rocks have been disturbed by erup- 
tions of volcanic materials. Molten rock ejected from the 
interior of the earth and cooling form the igneous rocks we 
have spoken of. They are easily distinguished from the 
sedimentary rock, as they have no appearance of stratifica- 
tion and contain no fossils. 

We have numerous proofs that the interior of the earth 
is at a high temperature at present, although its surface has 
cooled. Our deepest mines are so hot that, without a 
perpetual current of cold air it would be impossible for the 
miners to live in them. The water brought up in artesian 
wells is found to increase in temperature one degree for 
from fifty to fifty-five feet of depth. In the hot lava 
emitted from volcanoes we have further evidence of this 
internal heat. It has been calculated that the temperature 
of the earth increases as we descend at the rate of one 
degree Fahrenheit in a little over fifty feet. We shall 



92 ELEMENTARY COMPOSITION 

therefore have a temperature of two thousand seven 
hundred degrees at a depth of twenty-eight miles. At this 
temperature everything which we are acquainted with 
would be in a state of fusion. 

We now pass to the atmosphere, which may be likened to 
a great ocean, covering the earth to a height not yet 
exactly determined. This height is generally supposed to 
be forty-five or fifty miles, but there is evidence to show 
that we have an atmosphere of some kind at a height of 
four hundred or five hundred miles. The chemical 
composition by weight of one hundred parts of the atmos- 
phere at present is as follows : nitrogen, seventy-seven 
parts ; oxygen, twenty-three parts. Besides these two main 
constituents, we have carbonic acid, whose quantity varies 
with the locality ; aqueous vapor, variable with the tempera- 
ture and humidity ; and a trace of ammonia. — Adapted 
from Lockyer's Astronomy. 

Here, as before, you will notice that the author lias a 
separate idea for each paragraph, as follows : — 

1. The three parts of the earth. 

2. The crust. 

3. The interior. 

4. The atmosphere. 

He has also begun in this case with a paragraph that 
states precisely what plan he is going to follow ; namely, 
that he will treat the subject under three heads. 

34. Outlines. — A full outline of the selection would 
be as follows : — 

I. Introduction. 

A. Announces whole topic. 

B. Names subdivisions — crust, interior, atmosphere. 



WHOLE COMPOSITIONS ; OUTLINES 93 

II. Crust. 

A. Composed of two kinds of rocks : — 

1. Stratified. 

2. Igneous. 

III. Interior. 

A. Heat (proofs). 

B. Molten state. 

IV. Atmosphere. 

A. Height. 

B. Chemical composition. 

Now read the following composition : — 

THE CUP OF WATER 

No touch in the history of the minstrel-king David gives 
us a more warm and personal feeling toward him than his 
longing for the water at the well of Bethlehem. Standing as 
the incident does in the summary of the characters of his 
mighty men, it is apt to appear to us as if it had taken place 
in his latter days ; but such is not the case. It befell while 
he was still under thirty, in the time of his persecution by 
Saul. 

It was when the last attempt at reconciliation with the 
king had been made, when the affectionate parting with the 
generous and faithful Jonathan had taken place, when Saul 
was hunting him like a partridge on the mountains on the 
one side, and the Philistines had nearly taken his life on the 
other, that David, outlawed, yet loyal at the heart, sent his 
aged parents to the land of Moab for refuge, and himself took 
up his abode in the caves of the wild limestone hills that had 
become familiar to him when he was a shepherd. Brave cap- 
tain and heaven-destined king as he was, his name attracted 
round him a motley group of those that were in distress, or 



94 ELEMENTARY COMPOSITION 

in debt, or discontented, and among them were the " mighty 
men " whose brave deeds won them the foremost parts in 
that army with which David was to fulfill the ancient prom- 
ises to his people. There were his three nephews, Joab, the fe- 
rocious and imperious, the chivalrous Abishai, and Asahel, 
the fleet of foot ; there was the warlike Levite Benaiah, who 
slew lions and lionlike men, and others who, like David him- 
self, had done battle with the gigantic sons of Anak. Yet 
even these valiant men, so wild and lawless, could be kept in 
check by the voice of their young captain ; and outlaws as 
they were, they spoiled no peaceful villages, they lifted not 
their hands against the persecuting monarch, and the neigh- 
boring farms lost not one lamb through their violence. Some 
at least listened to the song of their warlike minstrel : — 

" Come, ye children, and hearken to me : 
I will teach you the fear of the Lord. 
What man is he that lustest to live, 
And would fain see good days ? 
Let him refrain his tongue from evil 
And his lips that they speak no guile ; 
Let him eschew evil and do good ; 
Let him seek peace and ensue it." 

With such strains as these, sung to his harp, the warrior 
gained the hearts of his men to enthusiastic love, and gath- 
ered followers on all sides, among them eleven fierce men of 
Gad, with faces like lions and feet swift as roes, who swam 
the Jordan in time of flood, and fought their way to him, put- 
ting all enemies in the valleys to flight. 

But the Eastern sun burnt on the bare rocks. A huge 
fissure, opening in the mountain ridge, encumbered at the 
bottom with broken rocks, with precipitous banks scarcely af- 
fording a footing for the wild goats, — such is the spot where, 
upon a cleft on the steep precipice, still remains the foun- 



WHOLE COMPOSITIONS ; OUTLINES 95 

dations of the "hold, " or tower, believed to have been David's 
retreat ; and near at hand is the low-browed entrance of the 
galleried cave, alternating between narrow passages and spa- 
cious halls, but all oppressively hot and close. Waste and 
wild, without a bush or a tree, in the feverish atmosphere of 
Palestine, it was a desolate region, and at length the wan- 
derer's heart fainted in him, as he thought of his own home, 
with its rich and lovely terraced slopes, green with wheat, 
trellised with vines, and clouded with gray olive, and of the 
cool cisterns of living waters by the gate of which he loved 
to sing, — 

" He shall feed me in a green pasture, 
And lead me forth beside the waters of comfort." 

His parched longing lips gave utterance to the sigh, " that 
one would give me to drink of the water of the well of Beth- 
lehem that is by the gate ! " 

Three of his brave men, apparently Abishai, Benaiah, and 
Eleazar, heard the wish. Between their mountain fastness 
and the dearly-loved spring lay the host of the Philistines ; 
but their love for their leader feared no enemies. It was not 
only water that he longed for, but the water from the foun- 
tain which he had loved in his childhood. They descended 
from their chasm, broke through the midst of the enemy's 
army, and drew the water from the favorite spring, bearing it 
back, once again through the foe, to the tower upon the rock ! 
Deeply moved was their chief at this act of self-devotion, — 
so much moved that the water seemed to him too sacred to 
be put to his own use. " May God forbid it me that I should 
do this thing. Shall I drink the blood of these men that have 
put their lives in jeopardy, for with the jeopardy of their 
lives they brought it ? " And as a hallowed and precious gift, 
he poured out unto the Lord the water obtained at the price 



96 ELEMENTARY COMPOSITION 

of such peril to his followers. — Charlotte Yonge : A Book 
of Golden Deeds. 

Notice the arrangement of the paragraphs in The Cup 
,of Water, and study the way in which they are connected. 
Thus, in *[| 1, the persecution of David by Saul is spoken 
of. ^[ 2 carries on the thought by speaking of David's 
attempt at reconciliation with Saul and ends with a song 
of David. ^[ 3 opens with a reference to this song — 
"with such strains as these," etc. ^[ 4 is connected 
with ^[ 3 by but and ends with the expression of David's 
longing. ^[ 5 opens with direct reference to the wish. 

The following is an outline of the composition : — 

I. Introduction. 

A. The incident gives us a warm feeling for him. 

B. It occurred when he was still a young man. 
II. Situation. 

A. David in hiding. 

B. His valiant followers. 

C. David ; s influence over them. 

III. The devotion of his followers. 

IV. What led David to wish for the water. 

A. The heat. 

B. The barren region. 

C. His memories of the cool spring at Bethlehem. 
V. The wish fulfilled. 

A. Expedition of the three valiant men. 

B. Their return. 

C. David's noble deed. 

Exercise 75. — Prepare outlines of passages indicated by the 
teacher. 



WHOLE COMPOSITIONS ; OUTLINES 97 

35. Essentials in a Whole Composition. — Your study 
of the preceding models and your practice in making 
outlines must have shown you some of the things a long 
composition should have. Let us now gather up these 
points. 

You have learned that both the sentence and the para- 
graph must have unity. The longer composition must 
also have unity. As in the paragraph everything must 
relate to one topic, so in the long composition everything 
must relate to one larger topic. Suppose that your 
subject is " Benjamin Franklin the Statesman " ; you 
would then omit facts about Franklin's boyhood, also 
those about his discoveries in science, since, important 
and interesting as these facts are, they do not bear 
directly on the topic. 

In a good composition, one paragraph leads up to or 
suggests another. Look again at the passage on page 
88. In ^[ 1 the house itself is described. In ^f 2 we 
are taken inside by the housekeeper, who exhibits the rel- 
ics. ^[ 3 gives a more detailed account of one relic in 
particular ( Shakspere's chair ). Doubts of its authen- 
ticity naturally lead to the author's little talk on relics 
in general, which you find in *(]" 4. Very often, although 
not always, you will find paragraphs joined by connect- 
ing words; but there should always be connection in 
thought. 

In the chapter on Condensation you are directed to 
decide carefully as to the relative importance of the dif- 
ferent points treated, and to treat the most important 
pointi at the greatest length. 

Remember, then, that everything in your composition 



98 ELEMENTARY COMPOSITION 

should treat of one theme ; that the paragraphs should 
follow each other in an orderly way, each one carrying 
on the thought suggested by the preceding paragraph ; 
and that the most important points should be treated at 

the greatest length. 

36. How to Plan an Essay. — Let us suppose that you 
take as your subject for a composition The Cotton Grin. 
Read all you can find on the subject, jotting down points 
of interest, such as the following : — 

Boyhood of Whitney. His visit to the South. He be- 
comes interested in problem of cleaning seeds from cotton 
wool. The method of removing seeds before the invention. 
Condition of cotton industry in the South. Description of 
cotton gin. Eli Whitney's attempts to make a machine. His 
success. Eesult of invention as to cotton raising. Whit- 
ney's character. Relation between slavery and the cotton gin. 
Effect of invention as to manufacturing at North. Amount 
of cotton exported after invention. Price of cotton before 
invention ; after invention. 

From this mass of material you must choose the im- 
portant facts. Keep only the facts that bear upon your 
topic. Reject everything else. The result would be 
somewhat as follows : — 

Accepted : — 

Condition of cotton industry before invention of cotton 
gin. 

Method of removing seeds before invention of cotton gin. 

Price of cotton. 

Whitney becomes interested in problem. 



WHOLE COMPOSITIONS ; OUTLINES 99 

His first attempt to make a machine. 
His success. 

Price of cotton after invention of cotton gin. 
Description of Whitney's cotton gin. 
Result of invention as to cotton raising. 
Relation between slavery and the cotton gin. 
Amount of cotton exported after the invention. 
Effect of invention on manufacturing at the North. 

Rejected : — 

Boyhood of Whitney. 
Visit to South. 
Whitney's character. 

These points are rejected because they do not bear 
directly upon the main theme, although suggested by 
it. 

Close attention to the selection of material in this 
way will give your composition unity. 

After selecting your facts, the next point is to arrange 
them in an orderly way, so that one paragraph will 
lead naturally to the next. You would then have some 
such arrangement as this: - — 

I. Condition of cotton industry before invention of 
cotton gin. 

A. Method of removing seeds before invention of 
cotton gin. 

B. Price of cotton. 

II. Whitney's solution of the problem. 

A. His first attempt to make a machine. 

B. His success. 

C. Description of Whitney's cotton gin. 

L04 



100 ELEMENTARY COMPOSITION 

III. Result of invention. 

A. Price of cotton after invention of cotton gin. 

B. Amount of cotton exported after the invention. 

C. Effect of invention on manufacturing at the North. 

D. Relation between slavery and the cotton gin. 

Here, for further illustration, is a similar outline for 
a composition on cotton. 

I. Description of plant. 

A. Root. 

B. Stem. 

C. Leaves. 

D. Flowers. 

E. Cotton boll. 

F. Seeds. 

II. Where grown. 

A. Of what country a native. 

B, Where grown most extensively. 

III. Preparation. 

A. Picking. 

B. Ginning. 

C. Packing. 

IV. Manufacturing. 

A. Articles manufactured. 

V. History of Plant. 

A. Discovery. 

B. In America before invention of cotton gin. 

C. In America after invention of cotton gin. 

D. Value to-day. 



WHOLE COMPOSITIONS ; OUTLINES 101 

Exercise 76. — I. Make outlines for composition on such topics 
as the teacher indicates. 

Suggested topics : — 

1. Our Fourth-of-July Celebration. 

2. The Lost Child. 

3. Tobacco. 

4. The Battle of Bull Run. 

II. Write compositions, using the outlines you have made. Be 
sure you reject everything, no matter how interesting, that does not 
relate to your subject. Arrange your paragraphs carefully, using 
connecting words when possible. Treat the most important facts 
at greatest length. 



CHAPTER VII 

ORAL COMPOSITION 

37. The Great Essential. — We have now discussed 
certain matters which will be of service to you if you 
write your thoughts for others to read. Will these 
principles still hold if you speak your thoughts for 
others to hear ? Yes, in the main ; but you must 
remember that in the one case the persons you address 
have simply to read ; if they do not understand, they 
can simply look back and reread. In the other case, 
the persons you address are listening, and they must 
understand each sentence as it comes to them, for of 
course any one in an audience cannot stop a speaker 
because he fails to hear a word or a phrase. A speaker 
must therefore, first of all, take pains that each person 
in his audience hears clearly every word he says. 

38- How to be Heard. — If you wish to speak so that 
every one in your audience can hear all that you say, 
you must take pains about several things : — 

1. Proper Position. — Speech is sound produced by a 
stream of air forced from the lungs (as from a bellows) 
and striking against certain cords in the throat. By 
altering the tightness of these cords and by changing 
the position of the palate, tongue, and teeth, we change 
the character of the sound. If we are to speak to a 

102 



ORAL COMPOSITION 103 

considerable number of people, then, we must make sure 
that all this bodily machinery works with special ease 
and force, and first of all, that the lungs (the bellows) 
move freely. This means that they must have space to 
work, and this in turn means that we must stand erect, 
with the shoulders thrown back, the chest out, and the 
stomach in. The body should not be held stiffly or else 
the throat muscles are likely to become rigid also ; but 
we should stand naturally, and firmly, not as if we 
were about to tumble over or to jump, but as if we 
were ready to speak quietly to our friends — which is 
just what we are to do. 

2. Proper Breathing. — We should breathe slowly, 
regularly, and deeply, from the abdomen rather than 
from the top of the lungs. If we breathe too fast or too 
irregularly, we shall speak in a rapid, jerky way, and 
find it very difficult to make ourselves understood. 

3. Proper Use of the Muscles of the Throat and Mouth. 
— We must be careful not to cramp the muscles of the 
throat, but to let them move easily. We can thus pro- 
duce a loud clear tone without tiring ourselves unduly. 
If the head does not hang down, if the mouth is opened 
wide, and the throat muscles are allowed to work freely, 
without rigidity, the voice will be clear and distinct. 

4. Proper Pitch. — We must be sure (particularly the 
girls) not to pitch the voice too high, as if it were a 
siren whistle or a fife. A clear, rather low-pitched voice 
is the most pleasant to hear. We must be careful, too, 
not to talk (as so many of us do) through our noses. 
A nasal voice is almost always a disagreeable voice. 

5. Clear Articulation. — So much for the voice in gen- 



104 ELEMENTARY COMPOSITION 

eral ; now, last of all, we must be careful to pronounce 
clearly, to articulate distinctly, that is, to give each 
syllable its proper value. Of course we do not ordina- 
rily like to listen to a very prim and precise speaker, 
who pronounces every syllable with equal distinctness, 
uttering sharply, for instance, the d in such an unim- 
portant word as and. It is the custom of our language 
to distinguish between the accented syllables, which we 
pronounce distinctly, and the unaccented syllables, over 
which we pass lightly. But, on the other hand, we do 
not like to listen to the slovenly speaker, who drops 
entirely the d in and and the g in ing, and who sounds 
all his vowels very much alike. In this matter of articu- 
lation, you will do well to take some older person, a 
good speaker or reader, as a model, and to imitate him 
or her. Practice reading aloud to your friends, stand- 
ing sometimes at the very end of the room, or at the 
end of a suite of rooms, as far as possible from your 
hearers, asking any one of them to interrupt you the 
moment that anything you say is not distinctly heard, 

39. Pronunciation. — As to pronunciation, you must 
remember that often custom is not uniform. There 
are sometimes two or even more ways of pronouncing 
a word, both or all of which are given in the diction- 
aries ; and occasionally there is a thoroughly proper way 
of pronouncing a word which the men who make the 
dictionaries have unfortunately omitted, but which is 
used by many educated and cultivated people. In 
general, you should use the pronunciation of the most 
intelligent and respected people you know, and in par- 



ORAL COMPOSITION 105 

ticular that of your teacher and your school. It is 
quite proper and desirable that every school or teacher 
should establish its own custom for words which are 
usually pronounced in one of several ways, and the 
pupil should do his best to conform, for the convenience 
of all, to the custom of the class or the school in this 
respect. 

40- A Plan Necessary. — There is no other important 
difference which you need now consider between oral 
composition and written composition. In both it is 
better, before you begin, to think carefully over what 
you have to say. In oral composition, as in written, 
it is wise to make a plan, and you can make it in pre- 
cisely the same way. 

Note for the Teacher. — It does not seem necessary to 
insert special exercises in oral composition. Almost any of the 
exercises from the following chapters may be used with advantage. 



CHAPTER VIII 

THE DIARY 

41. The Value of a Diary. — The diary is the simplest 
form of writing, for you are writing for yourself, making 
for yourself a record of your life. What do you think 
should go in a diary? If your parents had kept one 
when they were your age, what would you have found 
most interesting now? A great many things which 
they would have taken for granted would seem odd to 
you, i.e. no telephone, big stoves in the class room, differ- 
ent studies, etc. If a boy in China kept a diary, what 
would you find most interesting ? Some account of his 
games, of his playmates, of the look of the streets he 
passed through, of how he felt towards his teacher, etc. 
Bear these points in mind, for when you grow older, 
though you will not live in another land or another 
generation, you will be very far from your school-days, 
and your diary should make a picture of them for you. 
If you had been able to keep a diary when you were six 
or seven, what would you now read in it with most 
interest? The ideal is to set down at the end of the 
day a reminder of it, so that when you look at it you 
will remember what made that day different from every 
other. This is not possible always, but as a matter of 
fact every day has some special features, if it is only 
the weather. 

IOC 



THE DIARY 107 

From a practical point of view, the diary is a great aid 
to letter-writing, since it really forms the notes for a 
narrative of your life. It often settles disputes about the 
date on which something was done ; it furnishes data for 
calculations in planning; i.e. you wish to have an early 
spring picnic, and, consulting your diary, find that on the 
20th of March of the year before you were in the woods 
without an overcoat and found arbutus; or you wish to 
get up an entertainment, and turn back in your diary for 
the description of one you saw during the summer. It 
gives you material for writing exercises for your Eng- 
lish work ; for instance, the entry, " To-day we went to 
Aunt Julia's to help pick cherries ; I was almost bitten 
by their dog- when we came down from the tree," is 
really the outline for a short story, if you make your 
note on it sufficient to bring the picture up before your 
mind. 

42. Contents of a Diary. — No two diaries should be 
alike, but certain things should always be noted so as to 
make a continuous record, even if they do not seem of 
special interest; i.e. the weather (very briefly if it is 
nothing unusual), the movements of the family (if any 
one is away or just returned), the health of the family 
(this only if any one is ill), what the general news of 
school is (if any special event of school life has taken 
place), and what you yourself have been doing. You 
may sometimes think that you have done nothing worth 
putting down, but anything that has made the day dif- 
ferent from the day before is worth writing. Do not 
try to make entries for different days of same length. 
Try to cultivate the ability to pick out the details of 



108 ELEMENTARY COMPOSITION 

an incident which will make you remember it most dis- 
tinctly. Later on, in letter writing and description, you 
will have to select details which will bring a picture 
most clearly before the minds of other people, but in 
your diary you are freer. In your entiy after an after- 
noon's sledding, for instance, it may be sufficient for you 
to say: "Went sledding on Holmes's hill. Weather 
very cold, with a high wind, that sent the snow flying. 
Broke my sled, trying to make the corner curve too 
fast. The whole crowd of us come home together, 
taking turns in pulling each other and playing Eskimos, 
and I almost frosted my nose." If those were the im- 
portant events of the afternoon to you, they should bring 
up the whole picture before you, so that you could see 
it clearly enough to remember all the other details that 
would be necessary to give any one else an idea of what 
the expedition was like. 

It is absolutely essential that the entry for each day 
should be made while it is fresh in your mind ; do not 
wait for several days, and then " write up " your diary. 
A short entry on the day of the occurrence is worth more 
than a page written a week later. 

After the school news, and what you yourself have 
done, enter anything unusual which any one you know 
has done, or any change of conditions at home ; i.e. that it 
is preserving time and the house is full of odor of cook- 
ing fruit ; that it is near Christmas, and you worked 
with the others on making wreaths for the decorations 
of the church. You will find that a brief record of your 
work at school, how you succeeded and how you failed, 
what you found hard and why, is of real use to you. 



THE DIARY 109 

43. Imaginary Diaries. — After you have formed the 
habit of making every day a picture of your own actual 
life, try making a similar picture of the life of an imagi- 
nary person. Take any period you have studied in 
your history and try to make a diary of a boy or girl 
who lived in that time. 

Exercise 77. — 1. A Puritan boy in the first winter of the stay 
of the Puritan fathers in New England ; choose a week when they 
first land, and a week when spring begins to come. Bring out 
the difference in his feelings. 

2. A girl in Dutch Manhattan. Tell the story of the taking of 
Manhattan by the English as it would have appeared to her. From 
your study of the customs and habits of the time, write a week's 
entries of her holiday week, Christmas customs, etc. 

3. An Indian boy : a week's diary in the West, on the plains, 
etc., and then later, a week's entries after he arrives at the Indian 
school and is being taught the customs of the white men. 

4. Diary of a week spent as you would like best to spend it. 
Diary of an imaginary week in the country; in the city; in South 
America ; on an ocean voyage ; during a week's illness. 

5. Diary of the inhabitant of any country you are studying in 
your geography lessons. 

44. The Class Diary. — If there is not already such 
a custom in your class room, it is a good thing for you 
to start a class diary, or record of the year's school work 
and activities. This aims to do the same thing for the 
class that your personal diary does for your own life, 
and in it should be written all that makes the life of 
each school day or week distinctive. This book is left 
in your class room, to form one of a series of such rec- 
ords, which will be of increasing interest as the years 



110 ELEMENTARY COMPOSITION 

go on. Any large blank book may be used for this pur- 
pose, and great care should be taken to keep the record 
very neatly written. Nothing should be entered until 
all corrections have been made, so that a fair copy may 
be written. 

Sometimes, when only the larger events are to be 
chronicled, it is better that this record be set down by 
weeks, rather than by days. A good plan is to divide 
the class into committees of four or five each, who take 
charge of noting down the happenings of the week. 
They write the entry, read it to the class for sug- 
gestions and criticisms, and set it down in the class 
diary. 

It is well to have fixed a certain number of items 
which are to be noted regularly, and these may be di- 
vided among the members of the committee for the week. 
For instance, one may make it his business to note the 
weather, the temperature, the wind, or any unusual con- 
ditions out of doors ; another, the advance of the sea- 
sons, the day when the first robin arrives, or when the 
first definite signs of winter were seen, whether this be 
the falling of the last leaves, the first snowstorm, or the 
fact that the street cars are heated; another may take 
as his share the state of the studies of the class, unusual 
lessons, if any, and the progress made in the regular 
ones ; another, any items of general interest in other 
classes in the school. A record of all manner of items 
may be kept here, — facts which the class is interested 
in keeping, such as the attendance for each day, or the 
average attendance for the week, the average percent- 
age of the class in any study, etc. 



THE DIARY 111 

For special events, — entertainments, debates, excur- 
sions, etc., — there may be a member of the committee 
delegated to report, or the accounts may be written as 
an exercise, and the best one selected by the committee 
or teacher. 

The entry for the week should be made up of these 
various reports, entered neatly in the class diary, and 
signed by the pupils composing the committee. 



CHAPTER IX 
THE LETTER 

45- Various Kinds of Letters. — You have seen that 
the diary or journal is the most informal and simple 
form of written expression, since it is intended, as a 
rule, for the writer only. The letter is less personal 
than the diary, because it is addressed to one other 
person ; but it is more personal than general writing 
(description, stories, etc.), which is addressed to a 
number of persons, most of whom the writer does not 
know. Letters differ widely according to their pur- 
poses, but the merit of any sort of a letter may be 
judged by putting yourself in the place of the person 
receiving it, and trying to feel whether you would be 
satisfied by it. 

Letters may be classified as follows according to 
their purposes : — 

1. To bridge over, as far as possible, a separation between 
people who know each other well, and to take the place of a 
conversation between them. Friendly letters. 

2. To arrange matters of social intercourse in the most 
correct and pleasing manner, to extend and accept or refuse 
invitations, etc. Social letters. 

3. To give information or ask questions as clearly as 
possible. Business letters. 

4. To give information or nsls questions as briefly as is 
consistent with perfect clearness. Telegrams. 

112 



THE LETTER 113 

5. To take the place of going about and telling many 
people the same thing. Notices. 

6. To present a request for a favor in the most persuasive 
manner. Petitions. 

46. Friendly Letters. — There are five main parts to 
every letter : (1) the heading ; (2) the salutation ; (3) 
the body, or what is written; (4) the complimentary 
ending; (5) the conclusion. In a friendly letter the 
heading, which consists of the post-office address of the 
writer and the date of writing, is sometimes omitted, 
although it is always best to write the date, even in 
letters of the greatest intimacy. Some of the usual 
salutations in letters to near friends or relatives are : 
My dear Mother, Dear Father, Dear Mary, My dear 
Mrs. Smith, My dear Aunt Martha. According to the 
degree of intimacy the usual complimentary endings 
are: Sincerely yours, Very sincerely yours, Cordially 
yours, Heartily yours, Yours ever, Affectionately yours, 
Yours lovingly, Your loving daughter, Your affection- 
ate son, etc. In letters to members of the family or 
close friends the first name only is sometimes- signed. 

The following are good typical forms for friendly 
letters : — 

(1) Dorset, KH., 

May 10, 1906. 

My dear Gilbert, — 



Faithfully yours, 

James Meyer. 



114 ELEMENTARY COMPOSITION 

(2) Butte, April 16, Thursday. 

Dear Mother, — 



Your affectionate son, 

Henry. 

The ideal in friendly letters is to write to your corre- 
spondent what you would say to him if you could see 
him, and to answer the questions he would put to you. 
If you are away on a visit, for instance, the questions 
he would probably ask are, " What sort of a place is it 
where you are ? Are you having a good time ? What 
are you doing to amuse yourself ? " Try to think what 
sort of a letter you would like to have him write if he 
were away, and write accordingly. 

Although you wish to write naturally and almost as 
though you were talking, it is best to make out a list of 
the really important things you wish to say, or you will 
find that you have come to the end of your letter with- 
out stating some vital facts you wished your friend to 
know. It has been said that a friendly letter should be 
like a conversation, but you must remember that it is 
a conversation limited in time. If you were about to 
see your friend for only a half-hour, it would be well 
to think of a few main facts you wished to tell him, or 
questions you wish him to answer, and bear them in 
mind ; otherwise your time might come to an end 
before you had said the important things. Even for 



THE LETTER 115 

the most informal letter it is always best to make an 
outline, although it may be a very brief one. 

Suppose you wish to describe the way in which you 
spent Christmas away from home. Probably nothing 
very unusual happened, and you may think an outline 
unnecessary; but you will find, even in relating the 
facts of one day, that if you do not have some plan and 
keep in your mind the main events in their proper 
order, you will be likely to write a confused and incom- 
plete account of what you did. ' Some such outline as 
the following is needed : — 

Introduction. The place where I was, — city, country, 
or village ; the weather ; general conditions. (This infor- 
mation can be given as briefly as you please, in a paragraph, 
but it is essential to understanding what you say about 
Christmas Day itself.) 

Main Body of the Letter. Maiming. Why we hung up 
our stockings, and how we received our presents. Dinner. 
How we helped prepare it, and any special features of it. 
Afternoon. Coasting. Evening. Charades, and the one we 
thought particularly good. 

Ending. Inquiries about your friend's Christmas, friendly 
greetings, and the close. 

A letter written on the above outline follows: — 

Newtonville, Wis., 
January 2, 1906. 
My dear Harry, — 

I promised you before the holidays began that I 
would let you know how I had spent my Christmas, but the 
last day of the vacation has come and I have not written 



116 ELEMENTARY COMPOSITION 

you a line. The truth is that I have been having such a 
good time every minute that I have not realized how fast 
the week has been going. You remember my big cousin 
who goes to the State University, don't you?. He came to 
visit our school once, last winter. His father, my uncle, in- 
vited our family to come out here and have a real " country 
Christmas " on his farm, and here we have been since the 
day after school closed. He lives in a fine, large farmhouse, 
with room enough in it for his big family and ours, too. We 
are three miles from tow,n, but there are plenty of horses to 
drive, and the air is so bracing and the weather so clear and 
cold that we don't mind the walk. Besides that, there are 
such a lot of us that nobody ever has to go alone. I never 
knew what fun it is to be in a big family. There is always 
somebody ready for a tramp whenever you want to go out, 
and in the evenings it is like being at a party all the time. 

On Christmas eve we hung up our stockings, even the 
grown-ups. That was for the little children, who still think 
there is a Santa Claus. There was hardly room enough 
along the mantelpiece for them all, and the next morning, 
when they were all full and knobby, they actually over- 
lapped. Christmas morning we were all up ever so early Be- 
fore it was really light, my big cousin was around knocking at 
the doors, calling us to breakfast and shouting, " Merry 
Christmas ! " We scrambled into our clothes and raced 
downstairs to breakfast, and then to the stockings. We 
pretended we thought Santa Claus had just that minute 
gone, and you ought to have seen the little girls look up the 
chimney after him. 

By the time everybody had looked at all his own presents 
and the things other people had, it was time to begin think- 
ing about dinner. We helped get it. I shouldn't be sur- 
prised if we were more in the way than a help, but it was 



THE LETTER 117 

lots of fun. The girls worked around in the kitchen and 
helped set the table, and we boys decorated the rooms with 
greens and turned the ice-cream crank. There were eighteen 
of us at table, and you couldn't hear yourself think for the 
talking and laughing. The last thing we did was to pass 
around a big sheet of paper, and everybody wrote his name 
on it and anything else he wanted to say. We are going to 
try, all of us, to get together that way every Christmas, and 
make such a list each time for a remembrance. My big 
cousin wrote, " United we cook, united we eat, united we 
die ! " I said it was the best Christmas I had ever had. 

We had eaten so much that after dinner we just sat 
around and talked for a while, and then a crowd of boys 
went out to coast and try our new sleds. There is a fine hill 
right near the house, and the snow was exactly right. You 
can coast as much as ten city blocks without slowing up 
at all, and then you run along on a level for four or five more. 

In the evening some of the neighbors came in and we 
played charades. I never knew you could have so much 
fun at that. We thought of a number of good words, but 
our side had the best, " Kussian." We played the first syl- 
lable like a football " rush, " and that was exciting. My 
cousin is on the university team, and he told us just what 
to do to have it like real football. We acted the last syllable 
as " shun, " and none of us would look at one of the girls, — 
" shunned " her, you know. For the whole word we put on 
all the furs we could find, and paraded around with banners, 
and pretended to throw bombs. The other side couldn't 
guess for a long time what we were acting. 

We were pretty tired when we went to bed, but I thought 
again it was about the nicest Christmas I had ever known. 

I hope you had a good time, too, and I wish you would 
write me about it. It must have been very different from 



118 ELEMENTARY COMPOSITION 

mine, since you were in the city. Did you get the new 
skates you wanted ? My father gave me a pair. I hope I 
shall hear soon from you that your Christmas was as great 
a success as mine. 

Sincerely yours, 

George Allen. 

Exercise 78. — Make a similiar outline and write a letter on 
any one of the following topics : — 

(1) Your Christmas holidays in the city. (2) A trip in a boat. 
(3) The use of a new camera. (4) The beginning of a new study 
in school. (5) The beginning of new lessons out of school. 

(6) The last game of baseball, basket-ball, etc., you have seen. 

(7) A railway journey. (8) Your friend is away on a visit. Write 
him all that has gone on in the neighborhood and school since he 
left. (9) Your parents are away. Write them the news of your 
home. (10) You have found a certain book interesting. Write 
your friend about it and recommend it to him. (11) Describe an 
interesting address or play you have heard. (12) An accident 
which you saw or one in which you were. (13) An expedition in 
the woods. (14) An entertainment you have recently seen or one 
which you helped to give. (15) A new pet. (16) A carpenter 
shop you have arranged for yourself in an unused room. (17) A 
picnic. (18) A new society which has been started in your 
school. (19) You have your parents' permission to undertake a 
walking trip or bicycling tour of several days through the country. 
Write to a friend, stating your plans and asking him to join you. 
(20) A similar letter proposing a week's camping-out in the woods. 

Note. — A longer list of subjects for friendly letters is not given 
because almost any of the subjects for other forms of composition 
can be treated in a letter. Moreover, it is highly desirable that 
pupils should write letters to real people, — relatives, friends, or 
pupils in other schools with whom an exchange has been arranged. 
A real correspondence, where the pupil feels he is attempting to 
interest and please an actual person, arouses much more spirit 
than purely imaginary letters. 



THE LETTER 119 

47. Letters of Social Intercourse. — In form, letters 
of social intercourse stand between the purely friendly 
letter and the business letter. The address of the 
writer and the date of the letter often stand at the foot 
of the letter, beginning opposite the signature in the 
more informal notes, as in the following form : — 

My dear Mrs. Blackmar, — 



Very sincerely yours, 

Mary Holden. 
22 High Street, Columbus, 0. 
April 12, 1906. 

In the most formal letter of social intercourse, the 
address of the writer and the date stand at the begin- 
ning, and the complete name and address of the person 
addressed stand at the foot, thus : — 

428 Bolton Place, Pittsburgh, Pa., 
September 26, 1906. 
My dear Sir, — 



Very sincerely yours, 
Richard White. 



Mr. Elbert Peters, 
Ross Center, N.Y. 



120 ELEMENTARY COMPOSITION 

Sometimes, instead of writing Mr. before a name, Esq. 
is written after it, but the two are never used at the 
same time. 

In style, the letter of social intercourse should be as 
graceful as it is possible to make it, although it should 
always be simple and not too long. Many invitations 
and answers to them have a form fixed by tradition 
(see Formal Invitations, § 48), but the informal social 
letter is almost entirely a matter of taste. There are, 
however, a few courteous phrases which are so much 
used as to be almost fixed forms. Such are : "I hope 
that we may have the pleasure of your company," 
" I hope that you can be with us," " I regret most 
sincerely that it is impossible for me to accept your 
kind invitation," " I shall be very happy to be with 
you," " It is with great pleasure that I accept your 
kind invitation," " I regret that a previous engagement 
prevents me from accepting your invitation," etc. 

The following is a typical informal invitation : — 

My dear Mrs. Wilson, — 

My mother wishes me to write you that 
we are planning to take a drive to Chestei on next Tuesday, 
and should be very glad to have you with us. We are to 
leave at nine o'clock, so that we may be at the Chester Hotel 
in time for dinner. 

I hope that is not too early an hour for you, and that we 
may have the pleasure of your company on that day. 

Very sincerely yours, 

Margaret Hunt. 
Hilltop Lodge, Wis., 
January 14, 1906. 



THE LETTER 121 

Exercise 79. — The following letters should be written on note 
paper or on paper ruled to that size : — 

1. Write an acceptance to the above invitation. 

2. Write a note to a friend of your mother's, saying that your 
mother is slightly indisposed and cannot keep an engagement. 
Write a suitable answer. 

3. Write a note to a friend of your father's, asking him in your 
father's name to join a fishing party ; a whist club ; a hunting- 
expedition ; to be one of a theater party. 

4. Write a note to a friend, boy or girl, asking him or her to 
go to the theater with you, to come and spend the day with you, 
to come to a party you are giving, to attend some athletic contest 
with you, to go for a day's tramp with a party of friends, to play at 
a concert, to take part in a debate or entertainment, to lend you a 
book, to give you the address of a friend, to join with you in form- 
ing a club among your friends. 

5. Write a note to a friend, thanking him for having helped you 
in an entertainment, for having lent you a book, for having done a 
service to a friend, for any favor shown you. 

6. Write a note to your teacher, explaining your absence from 
school, asking her to send word to you about the lessons done in 
your absence ; asking her to excuse you early from school, giving 
some specific reason ; asking her for the date of the first day of 
school following a vacation ; asking if you may be a few days late 
in returning to school ; asking her to be present at a meeting of one 
of your societies ; inviting her to your house for dinner. 

7. Write a note to the principal of your school, asking him to be 
present at an entertainment given by your grade, at a spelling 
match, at a debate, or any special event in your class room ; asking 
him to excuse you from drawing, on account of weak eyes, or from 
any other study, giving reasons ; asking him to give you a letter of 
introduction to the principal qf the new school to which you are 
about to go ; asking him to be a judge in some contest in your class 
room ; thanking him for having acted as judge. 



122 ELEMENTARY COMPOSITION 

48. Formal Invitations. — These are written and an- 
swered according to certain fixed forms and in the 
third person. 

Mr. and Mrs. Henry Miller request the pleasure of Mr. 
Albert Knight's company at dinner, on Wednesday even- 
ing, the tenth of March, at half past seven o'clock. 
221 West Long Street, 
Friday morning. 

Mr. Albert Knight accepts with pleasure Mr. and Mrs. 
Miller's kind invitation to dinner on Wednesday evening 
at half past seven o'clock. 
44 Park Place, 

Saturday morning. 

Mrs. William Morris 

Miss Morris 

At Home 

On Wednesday, March tenth, 

from four until six o'clock. 

23 Grant Avenue. 

Extremely formal invitations, especially to public and 
semi-public functions, are often impersonal in form, as in 
the following: — 

The Annual Concert 

of the 

Elementary Schools of St. Joseph, Michigan, 

will be held in the 

Assembly Room of the High School, 

Tuesday evening, May twentieth, 

at eight o'clock. 

You are cordially invited to be present. 



THE LETTER 123 

The President and Members of the School Board 
request the honor of your company at the formal 
dedication of the New High School, on Wednesday, 
November third, at half past three o'clock. 

Exercise 80. — I. Study these forms and copy them accurately 
on note paper. Write a formal invitation from Captain and Mrs. 
Arthur Elliott to Mrs. Alice Johnson for dinner ; from Mrs. Henry 
White to Mr. and Miss Kellogg for an evening at home. Write 
acceptance and regret for each. 

II. 1. Prepare a card for a semi-public reception given by your 
school, by your church* by a club or society. 

2. Prepare a card for a school concert, exhibition of school work, 
exhibition of work in Physical Culture ; for a play given by the school 
Dramatic Society ; for a May Festival given by the Eighth Grade ; 
for the laying of a corner stone of a new schoolhouse, of a church, of 
a public building of any kind. 

49. Telegrams. — In a telegram clearness is the first 
quality to be sought. Because of the cost of sending, 
the telegram is usually limited to ten words, excluding 
the address and signature, and this brevity renders it 
difficult to state all that you wish clearly, and makes it 
an exercise in ingenuity to condense the information 
you wish to give without making it hard to understand. 

For instance, you wish your brother, who is visiting 
in another town, to meet you at a certain train on Mon- 
day and spend the day hunting with you, if the weather 
is good. You would word your telegram in some such 

way as this : — 

^ ^ TTr September 9. 1906. 

Mr. Peter Whiting, 

Danfield, Md. 

Meet me eight thirty, ready for hunting, if weather 

fayorable. 

John Whiting. 



124 ELEMENTARY COMPOSITION 

Although you have used incomplete sentences, you 
have said enough so that your brother will understand 
what you mean. 

Exercise 81. — Condense as much as possible and write as tele- 
grams, thinking before you write what are the essential parts of the 
message, and leaving out all else : — 

1. Mother has gone to spend the day with Aunt Mary, and 
wishes you to call there for her in the evening and bring her 
home. 

2. Before you come home, be sure to call, on the lady who is 
to be teacher of the seventh grade here next year. She lives on 
Horning Street. 

3. We are all to be away from home on a picnic the day you 
speak of coming to see us. We should like to have you join us. 

4. There is to be a very interesting entertainment here the day 
I was to go home. May I stay over another day to see it? 

5. The river is too swollen for the canoe trip we planned for Sat- 
urday. Bring your tools along when you come, and we will try 
to make a raft. 

6. Henry has just passed his examinations for Dartmouth Col- 
lege. He will stop in Farmington to see you, on his way home, 
Tuesday. 

7. Can your basket-ball team put off the match we were to play 
on Monday until Wednesday? The field we hoped to have is 
engaged for Monday. 

8. Will your debating society be willing to meet ours, on the 
27th of this month, in our class room ? 

9. We have just heard of the burning of your schoolhousc and 
wish to extend our sympathy. Will you telegraph us if there is 
anything we can do to help you? 

10. The hour of the train on which we were to leave has been 
changed, and we shall not reach home until six o'clock. 

11. On unpacking my trunk 1 cannot find my volume of 
Tennyson's poems. Did you put it in the trunk or was it left 
behind? 



THE LETTER 125 

12. I have spilled ink on my best dress. May Aunt Jane buy a 
new one for me to wear at my cousin's party ? 

13. We cannot find the key to the back door. If you took it 
with you by mistake, please return it to father's business address. 

14. Will the seventh grade of your school join ours in a nature- 
study excursion to the river next Saturday ? 

15. Your mother is away from home on her birthday. Send 
her an appropriate telegram of congratulation and greeting. 

16. You are to pass through the town where a friend lives and 
will have a half hour wait at the station. Telegraph him, asking 
him to come there to see you. 

50. Business Letters. — In a business letter the five 
main parts are very full and complete. The heading 
contains, as in other letters, the post office address of 
the writer and the date. Above the salutation is writ- 
ten the full name and address of the person to whom 
the letter is sent. There are slightly varied forms for 
the salutation : — 

Dear Sir; My dear Sir; Dear Sirs; Dear Madam; Dear 
Mesdames; Sir; Gentlemen; Madam; Mesdames. 

The complimentary ending is usually one of the 
following: — 

Truly yours; Very truly yours; Faithfully yours; 
Respectfully yours. 

Sometimes, in letters slightly more formal, these end- 
ings are written thus: — 

I am, 

Very truly yours, 

Andrew D. Jordan. 

I remain, 

Respectfully yours, 

Andrew D. Jordan. 



126 ELEMENTARY COMPOSITION 

Under the signature of the writer is frequently put 
his title; and if a clerk has written the signature, per 
followed by his initials is placed below. 
Very truly yours, 

Andrew D. Jordan, 
Secretary. 
Truly yours, 

Matthew Bennett, 
per D. C. 
The following is a correct and usual form for a busi- 
ness letter: — 

501 South Lincoln Street, Cleveland, 0. 

September 20, 1906. 
Messrs. Charles Wright and Sons, 
42 Hilton Street, 

Norwood, Pa. 
Dear Sirs, — 

Please send me the latest catalogue of your 
goods, and state whether you pay cost of transportation for 
large orders. 

Very truly yours, 

Henry L. Perkins. 

Exercise 82. — Study the forms given above, and write the be- 
ginning and end of each of the following letters : — 

1. Mr. Henry Smith, 44 Bolton Place, Brooklyn, N.Y., writes on 
November 10, 1906, to Messrs. John Murray Brothers, o2 Canal 
Street, New York. 

2. Miss Helen Reed, Principal of the Woodlawn School, Sayles- 
ville, N.J., writes on October 10, 1906, to Mr. Percy Painter, 607 West 
14th Street, Trenton, N.J. 

3. The Landsdowne Manufacturing Company, 241 Greenwich 
Place, San Francisco, writes on May 7, 1906, to the San Francisco 
agent of the Northern Pacific R. R., 22 Newton Street, San Fran- 
cisco. 



THE LETTER 127 

The writing of business letters should be taken up 
after the exercise in writing telegrams, for brevity is al- 
most as essential in the one as in the other. There is, 
of course, no need to write incomplete sentences as in 
the telegram, but the same general process should be 
followed; that is, to see what are the really important 
points you wish to state, to express these with unmis- 
takable clearness, and to say no more. 

It is proper to add that a person of education and 
cultivation is recognized at once as such by the letters 
he writes. Even in a matter-of-fact letter, too, you 
may often reveal, without realizing it, your courtesy 
and kindliness as well as your intelligence. We con- 
stantly judge people by their letters. 

Note. — A good exercise is to have the pupils assume characters 
in the business world and answer each other's letters. An incom- 
plete letter can often be detected thus, by being put to a practical 
test. 

Do not begin to write your letter until you have made 
a brief outline of what you wish to say, in the order in 
which it should be said. For instance, you wish to 
apply for the position of errand boy. To write a com- 
plete letter, you need some such outline as the following, 
even though it be only in your head and not written 
down : — * 

Give the reason for applying for the position by stating how 
you have heard of the need for errand boys (through advertise- 
ment, personally, etc.) ; state your own qualifications for the work 
as simply and plainly as possible, mentioning your age, education, 
health, experience, recommendations, and any other facts that may 
bear on your capacity to give satisfaction; and when you have 
given these essential points, close your letter. 



128 ELEMENTARY COMPOSITION 

A letter written on such lines follows : — 

55 Henly Street, Baltimore, Md. 
January 17, 1906. 
Messrs. John Hampton and Sons, 

225 Fulton St., New York. 

Dear Sirs, — 

I have heard through your agent here that you 
are looking for boys as messengers and errand boys. My 
family is about to move to New York and I wish to make 
application for one of those positions with your firm. 

I am fifteen years old, in good health, and have just grad- 
uated from the public schools in this city. For the last 
three summers I have acted as errand boy for the firm of 
Clancy Brothers here, which work I am told by your agent 
is similar to what you wish. I inclose letters of recom- 
mendation from the head of that firm and from the princi- 
pal of my school. 

Hoping to hear from you favorably, 
Very truly yours, 

Peter Miller. 

Exercise 83. — I. Write the answer to the above. 
II. Write, in the same manner, letter and answer, making a 
short outline first in each case : — 

1. A letter to a bicycle firm, asking to be given the agency for 
your town or locality. State why you think their bicycles would 
sell well, and what your qualifications for the position are. 

2. Letter to a large grocery store, offering to sell them home- 
made preserves, nuts, maple sugar, candy, popcorn-balls, or any- 
thing you can make or gather in the country. 

3. Letter to a florist, offering to supply him with autumn 
leaves, ferns, country flowers of any kind, moss, birchbark, etc. 

4. Letter to a country newspaper, offering to write a weekly 
news letter. 



THE LETTER 129 

5. Letter to a country church, offering to repeat for them an en- 
tertainment which has been successful in your own church or school. 

Note. — Make the letters above complete in all details, as to dis- 
tance from the city or country, cost of transportation, etc. ; and in 
the answer give full terms and conditions. 

6. Letter to a livery stable, asking their price for a sleigh ride 
for a party of twelve. 

7. Letter to the owner of an athletic field, asking his price for 
the use of the field every Tuesday afternoon during April and May. 

8. Letter to a firm of dealers in athletic goods, asking for a 
reduced rate for an outfit for basket-ball, baseball, etc., and giving 
reasons why you think you should have a reduction. 

9. To a piano manufacturer, asking lowest prices for a piano 
for the school and easiest methods of payment, installments, etc. 
Explain that the pupils are attempting to raise the money by 
entertainments. 

10. To a bank, inclosing check and asking them to deposit it to 
your brother's credit, and to send acknowledgment to his address. 

Exercise 84. — Write the following: 1. To a carpenter, asking 
price of shelf for your class room. Give all necessary information 
about length, width, etc. 

2. To a dressmaker, asking price for making a dress. Give all 
particulars. 

3. To a department store, asking to open an account. Give 
references. 

4. To the Gas Company, saying that you are about to leave 
town for a month and wish the gas turned off the house during 
that time. 

5. To a theater, asking what reduction will be made if a num- 
ber of pupils from your school buy tickets together. 

6. To a railroad, asking what reduction in price will be made 
for a school excursion. 

7. To a grocer, milkman, butcher, making arrangements for 
daily delivery of goods at your house. 

8. To a caterer, asking prices for a large reception. 

K 



130 ELEMENTARY COMPOSITION 

9. To the leader of a musical organization, asking his prices for 
playing at a school entertainment. 

10. To a person who is to speak at your school, stating exactly 
what the occasion is, who will form his audience, how long he is 
expected to speak, etc. 

51. Notices. — In olden times, when any one wished 
to announce a meeting or give some information of com- 
mon interest, he hired the town crier. This was a man 
who went about the town with a horn or bell, attracting 
as many people as possible to him, and then crying out 
in a loud voice the news he had to tell. The notice you 
put up on the blackboard in your class room, the slip of 
paper you post on the walls of your schoolhouse, to an- 
nounce an entertainment, an examination, or a meeting 
of one of your clubs, is the modern town crier. The no- 
tices which you see in the newspapers, telling people the 
time and date of a public meeting, or announcing church 
services, also take the place of a town crier. There is 
this difference. If the crier forgot to tell the people 
listening to him any important detail of his news, they 
could at once call out and ask him; but if a notice is in- 
complete, there is no way for the people interested to get 
the information needed. 

If you will study notices of various kinds, you will 
see that good ones, that is, notices which are brief, clear, 
complete, and not clumsy, are not common ; and, when 
you try to write them, you will probably find it more dif- 
ficult than you thought to be a good town crier. 

A meeting for the purpose of forming a club for the study 
of birds will be held on Thursday afternoon at half past 
three, in the Seventh Grade room. Any pupils in grades 



THE LETTER 131 

higher than the Fourth, who are interested in bird study, 
are eligible for membership, and are cordially invited to 
attend the meeting. 

If a sufficient number appear before four o'clock, an expe- 
dition to the Wright Woods will be made, under the leader- 
ship of the teachers of the Seventh Grade. 

In studying this notice you will see that a great deal is 
contained in it. Place, date, hour, and purpose of the 
meeting are contained in the first sentence. In the next 
is definitely stated the condition for membership in the 
club, and in the last is placed an inducement to make 
the meeting a large one. 

Another example follows : — 

A Christmas entertainment will be given by the pupils 
of the Eighth Grade on Friday afternoon at three o'clock, 
in the Seventh Grade room. A short play will be presented, 
and the Glee Club of the school will sing twice. Admission, 
ten cents. It is hoped that there will be a large number 
present, as the proceeds go to the piano fund. 

Exercise 85. — 1. The Bird Club is formed, and you wish to an- 
nounce a field expedition, on a Saturday, when every one is to bring 
his lunch. State place and time and date of meeting ; probable 
length of the expedition ; cost, if any ; special equipment, such as 
rubbers ; and what will be done in case of bad weather. 

2. Write a notice for a regular meeting of the Bird Club, giving 
topic to be discussed. 

3. You wish to announce a competition for a prize for the best 
story about a bird, for the best drawing of a bird, for the best plan 
of work for the club, for the best description of one of its excur- 
sions. State conditions of contest, time when contributions must 
be handed in, maximum and minimum length of article or size of 
drawing, what the prize is, etc. 

4. Similar notice for prize competition for best Christmas story, 



132 ELEMENTARY COMPOSITION 

Fourth of July article, Thanksgiving poem, etc. ; for the best 
amateur photograph of the school, for the best drawing. 

5. Write notice for the formation of a Kodak Club ; of a football 
team ; of a walking club ; of a dramatic society ; of a literary society ; 
of a glee club ; of a general athletic association ; of a school library ; 
of a chess club. 

6. Write notices for a regular meeting of these societies. 

In writing notices for an address or entertainment 
it is often desirable to give a little space to a brief de- 
scription or characterization of the speaker, as in the 
following : — 

Mr. Booker T. Washington, the Principal of the^Tuske- 
gee Institute, Alabama, will speak to the school on Negro 
Education in the South, next Tuesday morning at half past 
nine, in the General Assembly Room. Mr. Washington is 
the most distinguished negro in our country, and has done 
more than any one else to advance his race. His address 
will be illustrated with lantern slides. 

Exercise 86. — Write a notice for an address by the President of 
the United States, by a senator, by one of the clergymen of your 
town, by the superintendent of city schools, by the mayor of your 
town, by any public person whom you would like to hear. 

Exercise 87. — 1. Write a notice of a spelling match between two 
grades in your school, of an athletic contest of any kind, of a 
concert, of a play, of a school expedition to visit an historical 
monument, of the dates of a holiday, of a picnic, of a celebration of 
Washington's birthday, of a debate, of a celebration of Hallowe'en. 

2. Write a notice stating that the skating is good on a pond near 
the school ; that the pond is declared unsafe ; that pupils are asked 
not to pass near a building that is being erected on the same street 
as the school on account of danger from falling timber ; that pupils 
are requested to be very quiet in passing a house where some one 
lies seriously ill ; that the city or village authorities have forbidden 



THE LETTER 133 

coasting down a certain street ; that baseball is allowed on certain 
days in the park ; that bonfires will be allowed in the streets in 
honor of some celebration ; that the pupils of your school are ex- 
pected to take part in the parade on Decoration Day, in any town 
celebration ; that song birds are not to be killed ; that a bridge near 
the school is unsafe ; that all pupils must be vaccinated before a 
certain date. 

52. Appeals. — When brief, these are in the nature 
of notices ; when longer, they are like open letters. 
They aim to move people to take action benefiting some 
good cause, and should be as brief as is possible while 
giving a sufficiently full explanation of the necessity 
for action. Always state plainly and definitely how 
the action desired may be taken, to whom contributions 
may be sent, etc. The following is an example of a 
brief appeal. Like any such communication, it may be 
lengthened as much as is desirable, by dwelling on the 
good that a library would do under the conditions 
mentioned, by citing examples of successful school 
libraries elsewhere, etc. Such expansion is only neces- 
sary when the people to whom you make your appeal 
know little or nothing of the matter. 

The public school which has just been completed near 
the iron foundries has no library of its own and there is no 
public library near it. Good reading matter is much needed 
there, and the pupils of other public schools in the city are 
earnestly requested to contribute books and magazines 
toward the formation of a school library. Anything in the 
way of interesting reading will be welcomed, in German as 
well as English, for there are a great many Germans among 
the pupils. Old magazines and old books will be of as 
much value in the beginning as new ones. 



134 ELEMENTARY COMPOSITION 

Contributions may be left in the office of the principal of 
any public school. 

Exercise 88. — Write an appeal : (1) for old magazines to send 
to hospitals ; (2) for pictures for your class room or for those of 
another school ; (3) for books for your own library in your grade 
room ; (4) for money for the fresh-air fund ; (5) for pupils to join 
the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals; (6) for 
volunteers to aid in a benefit entertainment of some sort, drill, 
play, fair, etc. ; (7) for old clothes and shoes for the very poor of 
the city who are suffering from the cold; (8) for examples of map 
making, penmanship, drawing, or some other school work to send 
away as models to a new school ; (9) for pupils to hand in more 
material for the school paper. 

53. Petitions. — A petition is a form of open letter, 
asking a favor, and addressed by a number of people to an 
authority who can grant the request. There is a form 
fixed by tradition for the opening of a petition, but the 
content is varied according to the conditions, and the 
wording of a petition needs the greatest care. As in 
any literary exercise, the first thought should be of the 
essential points you wish to cover, and a brief outline 
should be made, comprising an exact statement of the 
concession you wish granted and the best reasons you 
can give for the granting of it. 

To the Mayor and Common Council of the city of Wake- 
field, Indiana, we, the undersigned, members of the Eighth 
Grade of Public School No. 12, respectfully petition that the 
west end of Elliott Park, above the driveway, be set apart 
for a school picnic on the afternoon of Tuesday, May the 
fourteenth, between two and six o'clock. 

There is no other place suitable for a picnic within walk- 
ing distance of the school and all the members of the Eighth 



THE LETTER 135 

are not able to pay carfare. If our petition is granted, we 
guarantee that no damage will be done to the trees or 
shrubs, that the park will be vacated promptly at six o'clock, 
and left in good condition. 

Exercise 89. — 1. Write a petition to the authorities of your city 
or town, asking for permission to use a certain street for coasting, 
for shinney, for basebal], etc. 

2. Write a petition to the principal of your school, asking that 
a new study may be introduced into the school curriculum ; that 
the weekly holiday be on another day ; that school open later and 
close later, or vice versa ; that punishment by staying after school 
be abolished ; that the hours of schools be shorter and more work 
be done at home ; that school be closed an hour earlier in order 
that the pupils may be present at a meeting or celebration of some 
kind ; that your grade be allowed to use the assembly room for 
a debate ; that you be permitted to flood a part of the playground 
to make a skating pond ; that one of your studies be omitted 
from the course of study ; that pupils be not marked tardy until 
ten minutes after the opening of school. 

54. Advertisements. — The advertisement is an out- 
growth of the notice, and in its simplest form is still a 
notice, as when the expense of printing causes the 
advertisement to be as brief as possible. It is then 
written on the same principle as the telegram, that is, 
using the fewest words possible to express clearly a 
given amount of information. 

Exercise 90. — Write, after studying similar advertisements in 
the newspapers, advertisements for help of all kinds, — janitor, sew- 
ing girls, errand boys, maids, nurses, coachmen, farm hands, apple- 
pickers, telephone girls, stenographers, etc. Also advertisements 
for rented furnished rooms, for houses to rent, etc., giving all 
essential details in as few words as possible. 

The above are virtually notices without having the 



136 ELEMENTARY COMPOSITION 

real characteristic of the advertisement, which differs 
from the notice in that it not only gives information 
but seeks to do this in so attractive and pleasing a 
manner that people will be induced to buy the wares 
offered. 

Exercise 91. — As a class exercise, take any one of the following 
topics, limit the number of words used to two or three hundred, 
and see who can write the most practical and attractive advertise- 
ment. Your aim is to state as forcibly as possible all the favor- 
able aspects of your topic, so that they will appeal most surely to 
the people you wish to reach. Study the advertisements you like 
best and see their method. Note that you are attracted by those 
that seem honest and moderate, and that you are repelled by ex- 
travagant overstatements. 

1. Write an advertisement for an amusement park which has 
been opened near your town. 

2. For a country school for boys ; for girls. 

3. For a city school for boys ; for girls. 

4. For an excursion on a railroad or on a line of steamers. 

5. For a summer resort in the North ; for a winter resort in the 
South. 

6. For a sanatorium in your town ; for a skating rink ; for a 
new hotel. 

7. For an academy making a specialty of nature study; of 
modern languages ; of athletics. 



CHAPTER X 
NARRATION 

55. The Essentials of a Good Narrative. — In a diary 
you set down things that happen, for your own infor- 
mation. In letters you try to report events so that 
they will be understood by the person to whom you are 
writing and, more than this, so that they will be in- 
teresting. In a good narration you write an account 
of a series of connected events,.so that it can be under- 
stood by any one at all, and will interest and please the 
greater number of your readers. It is of course much 
harder to address an audience whom you do not know 
than to try to interest people with whose peculiarities 
you are well acquainted ; but, after all, people are very 
much the same in general likes and dislikes, and there 
are several broad, simple rules for constructing narra- 
tions, or stories, which apply to all readers. 

The first thing that everybody wishes to have in a 
story is perfect clearness and good order. A story is a 
report of things as they happened, and every one wishes 
to learn the main events in the order in which they 
actually occurred. You have probably been annoyed by 
some one, who, in telling you a story, left out certain 
important steps, so that you could hardly understand 
how things came to happen as he related. Notice, for 
example, what has been left out in the following 
paragraph : — 

137 



138 ELEMENTARY COMPOSITION 

As the soldiers were crossing the bridge, they noticed a 
man running down from a hill shouting to them and waving 
his arms. They could not hear what he was saying, 
because a strong wind was blowing away from them. As 
they were struggling in the water, one soldier noticed a 
large tree trunk floating down toward them and called to 
his fellows to try and save themselves by holding on to that. 

Of course, so great an omission is rare; but in writing 
of one event following another, you must take care 
that your reader is never forced to stop and ask some 
such question as, "But you haven't told me how the 
soldiers came to be in the water," as he would on 
reading the paragraph above. 

A well-told fable is often a model for clear and con- 
nected simple narration. 

A crow sat on a tree, holding in his beak a large lump of 
cheese. A wily fox, attracted by the delicious smell, came 
to the foot of the tree and said to the crow, " How splendid 
you look up there, with your fine black feathers glistening 
in the sun ! I wish I had feathers instead of fur. It is 
really not fair that you should have all the gifts, beauty and 
skill, and perhaps even talent. Do you sing as wonderfully 
as you fly ? " 

The crow was so pleased by this that he opened his beak 
wide to show off his voice. The cheese fell to the ground; 
the fox snapped it up and ate it, saying, " I never tasted 
such a delicious morsel ! " He then ran off, laughing at the 
crow's vanity and calling over his shoulder, " Learn from 
this that a flatterer lives at the expense of those who listen 
to him." 

Exercise 92. — Write simply and briefly some of the following 
fables, using as model the fable just given. Try to keep clear in 



NARRATION 139 

your mind the exact order of events by imagining the whole story 
from beginning to end. There are in most of these subjects three 
or four separate little scenes, which you should try to bring visi- 
bly before your mind. It is a good plan to have an outline of the 
sequence of events, either written or in your head, and then develop 
each scene clearly and make it lifelike by conversation such as 
would naturally be used. The following is such an outline, by 
paragraphs, of a well-known fable : — 

I. The old man has many sons who disturb him by quar- 
reling among themselves. 

II. On his' death bed he calls them about him and gives 
them some small sticks, asking them if they can break them. 
The sons readily break them. 

III. The old man ties them together tightly and asks his 
sons again to break them. 

IV. They all try in every possible way, but cannot. 

V. The old man says that if they will agree among them- 
selves, they will be like the sticks bound together; but if they 
separate in quarrels, any one can injure them. 

1. An ass laden with salt falls down in a stream; before he can 
rise the salt is dissolved away and his load is much lighter. The 
next time he crosses the stream he stumbles purposely and falls, 
but this time he is laden with sponges. 

2. Two thieves who had stolen a horse fall to quarreling over 
who shall have the animal. While they are rolling in the dust 
fighting, a third thief comes along, jumps on the horse, and 
makes off with it. 

3. An oak speaks contemptuously to a reed of its small size and 
yielding weakness, and boasts of its own strength and firmness. 
After a terrible storm the oak is blown down and the reed 
straightens itself unhurt. 

4. A bat is caught by a weasel, who is about to devour it be- 
cause it is so much like a mouse. The bat says, " I am not a 
mouse — you are mistaken — I am a bird. See my wings. " Later 
the bat is caught again by a boy who wants to put it in a bird cage. 



140 ELEMENTARY COMPOSITION 

" I am no bird — see my mouse's body. " Thus the bat twice saves 
its life. 

5. A cat was changed by magic to a woman. All went well un- 
til she saw a mouse run across the floor, when she ran after it and 
caught it. 

6. A wolf in eating rapidly had swallowed a bone, which stuck 
in his throat. He went to the stork, who pulled it out with her 
beak, and then asked for pay for the service. The wolf said the 
stork could consider herself lucky that she had not had her head 
bitten off. 

7. A weasel slipped into a barn through a small hole. There he 
ate so much grain that he was too fat to go out at the same hole, 
and was caught by the farmer. 

8. The ass, seeing how much petting a little dog gets, tries to 
imitate its ways, prances about, and attempts to lie down at the 
feet of his mistress. He is driven back to the stable. 

9. A sheep, going away for the day, cautions her little lambs 
not to open the door to any one, except to her, and she will say 
Mai'iati, so that they will recognize her. A wolf, hidden near, 
overhears the password, knocks on the door, and gives the right 
word ; but the lambs, to be doubly sure, ask to see what color feet 
he has. They are black and betray him, so that the door is not 
opened. 

56. Autobiography. — There is one form of narration 
where it is almost impossible to get the events of your 
story in the wrong order, and that is autobiography, for 
in this you are telling the facts of your own life as they 
occurred, from month to month or year to year. In this 
form, as in narration, however, there is an important 
principle to bear in mind. Your material must be well 
chosen; that is, you must select only the important 
events in your life. Trivial and uninteresting details 
must be left out. To do this you must use your judg- 
ment, and try to put yourself in the place of your reader, 



N AERATION 141 

and think what he would like to know. (If your great- 
grandfather had written his autobiography when he was 
your age, what "would you have liked to know of his life ? 
If Pocohontas had written her autobiography, what 
would most interest you ?) 

Exercise 93. — I. Write your own autobiography up to the present 
date, and then continue in the same style, telling the story of your 
life as you would like best to have it. 

II. Write an imaginary autobiography of : — 

1. The starch-box after it was empty ; a boy made a doll's wagon 
of it for his little sister. Forgotten in the street, it was picked 
up by two poor children, and taken home, where an invalid brother 
made it into a window box for flowers. 

2. A gold dollar. Stamped in the mint, sent to the bank, given 
to a child for a birthday present, sent by her to the missionaries in 
Africa, lost there, and hung around the neck of a little black child. 

3. A drop of rain — all its life from the cloud to the earth, to the 
brook, to the river, to the sea, back to the cloud again. 

4. A knife. Made by Indian hunters, bought by white trap- 
pers, used on the plains, slipped into a package of furs sent to Paris 
to be made up into coats, and then used as a paper-cutter. 

5. Similarly, invent stories for a handkerchief, a diamond, a 
doll, a knapsack, a book, a street car, a lamp, a sword, a tea kettle, 
a wagon, an old house, a dollar bill, a pencil, a mirror, an old apple 
tree, a thimble, a high tortoise-shell comb, a saddle, a suit of armor, 
a chair. 

III. Write autobiographies of a cat, a dog, a horse, an elephant, 
a polar bear, a fox, a rabbit, a canary bird, a hen, a trained pig, 
a poodle, a mouse, a woodchuck, a squirrel. 

IV. Write the account of the course of a river as told by itself, 
from the time it rises from a spring till it flows into the ocean. 

V. Write the autobiography of any statue that you know, from 
the block of marble to its present place. 



142 ELEMENTARY COMPOSITION 

57. Biography. — In writing a biography it is not 
enough to select your facts with good judgment, and to 
arrange them in the order of their occurrence. A still 
more careful arrangement is needed, and this is usu- 
ally provided for by grouping the facts of a life into 
several main divisions. For instance, in writing your 
mother's biography, you might make some such general 
division or outline as the following: — 

I. Childhood in New England — village school ; on a farm. 

II. Boarding-school life. Studies — beginning of interest 
in history. Visits to school friends in the vacation. The 
old home is destroyed by fire. 

III. Life in New York, as teacher of history in a private 
school. Summer abroad with several of the pupils. 

IV. Early married life in New York; boarding-house, 
later a small apartment. 

V. Removal to suburban town. Children of the family. 
General character of family life. 

Under these various headings you can group all the 
stories you can induce your mother to tell you of her 
past life. Without such broad divisions into periods 
it is impossible to write all the varied facts of a biogra- 
phy in such a manner that your reader gets a clear and 
connected idea of the course of events. 

Exercise 94. — Group into natural divisions the following 
facts : — 

Henry Allen was married in 1875. His father was a lumber 
merchant. When he retired from business, he wrote an account of 
his life. As a boy he was fond of out-of-door life. He had three 
children. When he was a young man, he was sent up into Canada 
to look after some timber lands of his father's. He stayed there in 
the woods with the Indians for two years. He was born in 1810. He 



NARRATION 143 

lived in Portland, Maine, until he was sixteen. When his father 
died in 1867, he carried on the lumber business. He went two 
years to Bowdoin College. He was once mayor of Hartford. He 
lived in Boston from 1856 to 1875. He died in 1900 in Hartford. 
He brought up his children to know the woods and fields better 
than schools. He was one of the first people to advocate nature 
study. He was a very successful business man. He founded a 
school of forestry. He married a Canadian girl whom he met on 
a second visit to the forest in 1870. 

Exercise 95. — Find out all you can about the life of any older 
member of your family. See if you can pick out the natural divi- 
sions into which these facts fall, and write a brief biography. Do 
not divide in a conventional way, as into childhood, youth, maturity, 
and old age, but try to select periods which are separated from 
each other by some feature peculiar to the individual life you are 
relating. Sometimes divisions are naturally made by change in 
residence, sometimes by change in occupation, and sometimes simply 
by the general character of a life between certain dates. Your own 
judgment must tell you how best to arrange the facts of the story 
you wish to tell. 

Exercise 96. — I. Write in the same way, the biography (1) of the 
mayor of your own town, (2) of the President of the United States, 
(3) of a schoolmate (continuing this in an imaginary account of 
what you fancy his life maybe), (1) of your cook, (5) of your min- 
ister, or of any person whom you know well enough to ask the facts 
of his life, or about whom you can learn through other people. 

II. See how complete a biography you can write of either your 
grandfather or grandmother, or of any of your ancestors about whom 
you have heard stories, or of any of the early settlers of your town. 

III. Then, using the same method of collecting your facts first, 
and arranging those that naturally fall together in three or four 
groups, write the story of the life of (1) Joan of Arc, (2) Julius 
Caesar, (3) Hannibal, (4) Alfred the Great, (5) Washington. 
(6) Lee, (7) Lincoln, (8) Thorwaldsen, (9) Giotto, (10) Christopher 
Columbus, (11) Pocahontas, (12) Whittier, (13) Longfellow, 
(11) Miles Standish. 



144 ELEMENTARY COMPOSITION 

58. History. — Read the following account of how the 
Pilgrims came to Plymouth : — 

For nearly twelve years "brave little Holland" had 
given shelter to the true men and women who, in 1607-1608, 
were driven out of England by persecution of the bishops 
because they ivoulcl worship God in their own way. 

After many trials and dangers they came together at 
Amsterdam in 1608, and formed a little " Independent " 
church, with Richard Clifton, their old pastor among the 
Nottingham hills, for their minister, and John Robinson, 
their teacher, as his assistant. 

Governor Bradford tells us, in his Historie, that " when 
they had lived at Amsterdam about a year they removed to 
Leyden, a fair and beautiful city and of a sweet situation," 
on the " Old Rhine." Clifton was growing old and did not 
go with them, and Robinson became their pastor. 

For eleven years — nearly the whole time of " the famous 
truce " which came between the bloody wars of Holland and 
Spain — they lived here, married, children were born to 
them, and here some of them died. 

Most of them had been farmers in England, but here 
"they fell to such trades & imployments as they best 
could, valewing peace & their spirituall comforte above 
any other riches whatsoever, and at length they came to 
raise a competente and comfortable living, but with hard and 
continuall labor." 

But about 1617 these good, brave people of Pastor 
Robinson's flock became very anxious as to their circum- 
stances and future, — especially for their children, — and at 
length came sadly to realize that they must again seek a 
new home. Their numbers had been much increased; they 
could not hope to work so hard as they grew older, while 
war with the Spaniard was coming, and would surely make 



NARRATION 145 

matters harder for them. But the chief reasons which 
made them anxious to find another and better home were 
the hardships which their children had to bear and the temp- 
tations to which they were exposed. Besides this, they 
were patriotic and full of love of their God, their simple 
worship, and their religious liberty. As Englishmen, 
though their king and his bishops had treated them cruelly, 
they still loved the laws, customs, speech, and flag of their 
native land. As they could not enjoy these in their own 
country, or longer endure their hard conditions in Holland, 
they determined to find a home — even though in a wild 
country beyond the wild ocean — where they might worship 
God as they chose, " plant religion/' live as Englishmen, 
and reap a fair reward for their labors. It was very hard 
to decide where to go, but at last they made up their minds 
in favor of the " northern parts of Virginia" in the " ISTew 
World," across the Atlantic. They found friends to help 
them both in England and in Holland, and they helped 
themselves ; but even then, owing to enemies, false friends, 
and many difficulties, it was far from easy to get away, and 
they had sore trials and disappointments. 

And now " the younger and stronger part " of Pastor Bob- 
inson's flock, with Captain Miles Standish and his wife Eose 
and a few others, were to go from Leyden, in charge of 
Elder Brewster and Deacon Carver, and some were to join 
them in England, leaving the pastor and the rest to come 
afterward. 

It was a busy time in the Klock Steeg, or Bell Alley, where 
most of the Pilgrims lived, all the spring and early sum- 
mer of 1620, when they were getting ready for America. 
Deacon Carver and Robert Cushman, two of their chief men, 
were in England, fitting out a hired ship — the Mayflower. 
But the Leyden leaders had bought in Holland a smaller ship, 



146 ELEMENTARY COMPOSITION 

the Speedwell, and were refitting her for the voyage, an 
English "pilot/ 3 or ship's mate (Master Reynolds), having 
come over to take charge. (Bradford spells the word "pilott." 
He was in reality a mate, or "master's mate," as Bradford 
also calls him — the executive navigating officer next in rank 
to the master. The term " pilott " had not to the same extent 
the meaning it has now of an expert guide into harbors and 
along coasts. It meant, rather, a " deck " or " watch " officer, 
capable of steering and navigating a ship. He was on board 
the Mayflower practically what the mate of a sailing ship 
would be to-day.) Thirty-six men, fifteen women, sixteen 
boys, four girls, and a baby boy — seventy-two, in all, be- 
sides sailors — made up the Ley den part of the Pilgrim com- 
pany. Of these six went no farther than Plymouth, Old 
England, though three of them afterward joined the others in 
New England. Of the fifteen women, fourteen were wives 
of colonists and one was a lady's-maid. The thirty-six 
men of Leyden included all who became Pilgrim leaders, 
except three. 

At last they were off, and on Friday, July 21 (31), x they 
said good-by to the grand old city that had been so long 
their home. Going aboard the canal boats near the pastor's 
house, they floated down to Delfshaven, where their own 
little vessel, the Speedwell, lay waiting for them. At Delfs- 
haven they made their last sad partings from their friends, 
and Saturday, July 22 (or August 1, as we should call it), 



1 Owing to a difference in the methods of reckoning time used by Eng- 
land and other nations between the years 1582 and 1752, — when all became 
practically alike, — it was common to make use of " double-dating." In 
so doing, the terms, "Old Style" and ''New Style" were used, and to 
make the dates of the former and the latter correspond, ten days are 
added to all dates of the period between 1682 and 1700. December 11, 1620, 
Old Style, would be, in our present reckoning, December 21, 1(320 ( n Fore- 
fathers' Day"). 



NABBATION 147 

hoisted the flag of their native land, sailed down the river 
Maas, and Sunday morning were out upon the German Ocean, 
under way, with a fair wind, for the English port of South- 
ampton, where they were to join the other colonists. 

For three fine days they sailed down the North Sea, 
through Dover Straits, into the English Channel, and the 
fourth morning found them anchored in Southampton port. 
Here they found the Mayflower from London lying at 
anchor, with some of their own people — the Cushmans and 
Deacon Carver — and some forty other Pilgrim colonists, 
who were going with them. Among these our Ley den young 
people were no doubt very glad to find eight more boys and 
six girls of all ages, two of them being Henry Sampson and 
Humility Cooper, little cousins of their own Edward Tilley, 
who was to take them with him. 

Eor ten days the two ships lay in this port. Trying days 
for the elders indeed they were. Mr. Weston, their former 
friend (who had arranged with the merchants to help them, 
but was now turned traitor), came to see them, was very 
harsh, and went away angry. The passengers and cargoes 
had to be divided anew between the ships, thirty persons 
going to the Sjieedwell and ninety to the Mayflower. Then 
the pinnace sprung a leak and had to be reladen. To pay 
their " port charges " they were forced to sell most of their 
butter. And there were many sad and anxious hearts. 
But great times those ten days were for the larger boys 
and girls, who were allowed to go ashore on the West Quay 
(at which the ships lay), and for whom every day was full 
of new sights both aboard the vessels and ashore. "Gov- 
ernors" were chosen for the ships; a young cooper — John 
Alden — was found, to go over, do their work, and come 
back, if he wished, on the Mayflower ; and all was at last 
ready. They said what they thought were their last fare- 



148 ELEMENTARY COMPOSITION 

wells to England, and down the Solent, out by the lovely- 
Isle of Wight, into the broad Channel, both ships sailed 
slowly, " outward bound." 

But twice more the leaky Speedwell and her cowardly 
master made both ships seek harbor — first at Dartmouth, 
where they lay ten days while the pinnace was overhauled 
and repaired, and again at Plymouth, after they had sailed 
" above 100 leagues beyond Land's End." At Plymouth it 
was decided that the Speedwell should give up the voyage 
and transfer most of her passengers and lading to the May- 
flower, which would then make her belated way over the 
ocean alone. 

Some twenty passengers — the Cushmans, the Blossoms, 
and others — went back to London in the pinnace, and after 
a weary stay of nine days, on Wednesday, September 6 (16), 
the lone Pilgrim ship at last "shook off the land" and, 
with a fair wind, laid her course for " the northern coasts of 
Virginia." — Azel Ames : How the Pilgrims came to Plymouth. 

This extract is an example of a narration that is more 
difficult to write than anything you have yet tried. In 
writing biographies you write about one person only. 
In history you write about a great number of persons, 
and you must hold together in one story a great num- 
ber of different facts. An outline is, therefore, even 
more necessary here than in biography. In, making 
your outline you will be helped by the same principle 
of keeping your occurrences in their natural order that 
governed you in your biography outlines. Put down 
a note of the main facts you wish to report, accord- 
ing to the date of their happening. Afterward arrange 
them in groups according to the connection they may 
have with each other, but always begin by making 



NARRATION 149 

sure that they are set down in an orderly fashion. 
Have the outline before you as you write, and treat 
the different subjects as they come up. 

An outline for the extract given above might be the 
following : — 

I. Introduction: — 

A. Explanation of the state of the Puritans in 

Holland. 

B. Driven from England. 

C. Settled in Amsterdam. 

D. Eemoved to Leyden. 

E. General conditions. 

II. Reasons for leaving Holland. 

A. They could make no provision for the future. 

B. Their children could not be trained as they 

wished. 

C. They loved English ways. 

III. Beginning of preparations. 

A. Who were to go. 

B. Fitting out the boat — conditions of navigation. 

C. Number of those embarking. 

IV. Departure from Holland. 
V. Arrival in England. 

A. They join the Mayflower. 

B. Delays, at London, at Dartmouth, at Plymouth. 

VI. Final departure of the Mayflower alone from 
England. 

Read again the selection with the outline before you 
and notice how each division is developed. When you 



150 ELEMENTARY COMPOSITION 

have made a good outline, the hardest part of a piece 
of historical writing is completed. 

Exercise 97. — I. Let every one find out all he can about the 
founding or settling of the town where he lives. Talk over the 
facts in class, every one contributing what he has been able to 
learn ; then see who can make the best outline and best story or 
history. (Notice how the two words are really alike.) 

II. Go on, investigating the subsequent history of the town, and 
write that briefly in the same way, bringing in all the stories and 
interesting incidents you can hear. 

III. Write similarly the history of any other town, village, or 
farming community you know, treating particularly the way in 
which any conditions general throughout the country affected your 
subject. For instance, if it is an old town, how it was affected by 
the Mexican War, the Civil War, any great panic, etc. Mention 
not only great events in the history of the town, — fires, floods, 
building of factories, etc., — but try to give some idea of the gen- 
eral character of the life, whether the interests are chiefly manu- 
facturing, farming, marine, railroad, etc. 

IV. Write a brief history of (1) Detroit, (2) St. Louis, (3) New 
Orleans, (4) New York, (5) San Francisco, (6) Boston, 
(7) Charlestown, (8) Lawrence, Kansas, (9) Deerfield, Mass., 
(10) Quebec, (11) St. Augustine, (12) Monterey, California (early 
Spanish mission), (13) Havana. 

V. Using the extract given above as a model, write an account 
of (1) Penn's treaty with the Indians, (2) The first year of the 
settlers in Virginia, (3) The taking of Old Manhattan by the 
English, (4) How La Salle happened to come to this country, 
(5) How Grant came to be a soldier, (6) The invention and first 
expedition of the first steamboat, (7) The first railroad, (8) The 
founding and first journey of the Mormons. 

59. Plain Reporting of Facts. — A history gives an 
account of things that happened some time ago. A 
newspaper gives an account of things that happened 



NARRATION 151 

yesterday. The two are different in degree, but not 
in essential qualities. To give an account of an inci- 
dent that lasted half an hour and make it clear, con- 
nected, and orderly, requires the same principles as to 
write a report of events that lasted through several 
years. You must arrange your narrative in the true 
order, in a story of how a barn was burned, just as in 
a story of how a town was settled. In the first case, 
however, this is not quite so easy to do, since many 
of the events occur almost at the same time. But this 
very circumstance gives you the clew to an easy group- 
ing of your facts, since you can put those that happen 
together in the same division. An outline for an 
account of the burning of a barn is given below : — 

I. Discovery of fire. 

A. Fire shows through one of the windows. 

B. The man of the house runs down the walk 

toward the barn. 

C. The neighbors come running and calling. 

D. One man is sent to call the fire department. 

[All these facts occur almost simultaneously, and the sentences 
stating them must be connected or explained by some such phrase 
as " at the same time," " seeing this," " while this was being 
done," " at that moment," "meanwhile," etc.] 

II. Fighting the fire. 

A. The neighbors bring buckets — a line is formed. 

B. The owner goes in and brings out the horse and 

cow. 

C. The fire department arrives, connects the hose. 

D. The firemen climb on the roof to direct the water ; 

the fire is extinguished. 



152 ELEMENTARY COMPOSITION 

III. Final condition. 

A. Half the hay burned, and two wagons ruined. 
B: Horse and cow safe. 

C. The barn can be rebuilt without tearing it com- 

pletely down. 

D. There was no insurance. 

Exercise 98. — I. Make outlines, following this model, and write 
a newspaper account of any of the following events. Do not try 
to describe the occurrence particularly ; simply put down as clearly 
as possible the facts, given in their proper order. 

(1) A burglary in the daytime. (2) A rescue of a drowning 
boy by two playmates. (3) A flood which washes away part of 
a street-car track — how long cars were delayed, what passengers 
did, how track was repaired, etc. (4) How a dog, supposed to be 
mad, frightened an entire neighborhood. (5) The burning of a 
department store. (6) The dedication of a church, a hospital, an 
asylum of any kind. (7) A lost child and how he was returned 
to his parents. (8) An accident to a street car. (9) A runaway. 
(10) A steeple climber faints away halfway up a steeple, where 
he hangs suspended by the rope attached to his belt. Tell how 
he was saved. (11) A bear belonging to a circus escapes, and 
after roaming about for a day or so is captured by the circus men. 
(12) A high wind blows down telegraph poles, unroofs barns, and 
throws trees across the roads. Write an account of the amount 
of damage done. 

II. Write a newspaper account of any event at your school : 
(1) A commencement day. (2) A reception day. (3) A play or 
entertainment. (4) A panic over a supposed fire. (5) A boy is 
locked in and has great difficulty in getting out. (6) A water 
pipe is broken and stopped by the presence of mind of one of the 
teachers. 

60. Conversation. — In the narratives which you 
have been writing there has been little if any occasion 
for conversation. In writing stories or anecdotes in 



NARRATION 153 

which certain people come into contact with other 
persons, there is often no better way to give a vivid 
and interesting account of what happens than to tell 
what was said. This is equally true of real and of 
invented stories. People not only show their characters 
when they speak, but they indicate the course of events. 
The fact that one favorite form of writing consists 
entirely of conversation (for that is all that any play 
is) shows how truthfully and vividly facts can be 
presented in this way. 

Exercise 99. — Try telling in conversational form some of the 
fables mentioned on page 139, or write in this form the fable of 
(1) Death and the Woodchopper ; (2) The Wolf and the Lamb ; 
(3) The Grasshopper and the Ant ; (4) The Town Mouse and the 
Country Mouse ; (5) The Council of the Rats (Who'll bell the 
cat ?) ; (6) The Fox and the Grapes (this as a monologue, or 
what the fox says to himself, from the moment he sees the grapes 
until he gives up trying to secure them). 

Exercise 100. — Give a conversation which you think is char- 
acteristic and lifelike, such as might have occurred between any 
two of the following persons. Try to bring out something of 
the story which naturally comes to your mind in connection with 
these people. 

1. Joan of Arc to her mother the day before she leaves her 
home to go to the court of the king. 

[Suggestions : Her mother laments over the dangers of the road ; 
Joan reassures her — she is to wear armor and be escorted by 
twenty soldiers. Her mother asks again why Joan wishes to set 
out. Joan answers by explaining about her " Voices " and her 
certainty that she is sent by heaven to rescue France.] 

[Read the story of Joan of Arc and of the other persons to be 
treated in this lesson before you begin to write the dialogue.] 

2. Two boys of Puritan families about to embark for America 
on the Mayflower. 



154 ELEMENTARY COMPOSITION 

3. Christopher Columbus explaining to a friend what his hopes 
are in seeking out Queen Isabella. 

4. A boy and girl in Old Manhattan on Christmas Day, bring- 
ing out, if possible, some of the customs of the times. 

5. William Tell to his little son before he shoots the apple 
from his head. 

6. The conversation at the christening of the Princess who 
was afterward to be the Sleeping Beauty, bringing in the arrival 
and curse of the wicked fairy. 

7. Conversation of Hop o' my Thumb's father and mother, when 
they decide that the children must be left in the woods because 
they cannot earn enough to feed them. 

8. Conversations between the Grecian warriors who fell at 
Thermopylae, the evening before the battle. 

9. Robinson Crusoe and his man Friday. Robinson is trying 
to explain (a) city life, (b) how and why food is cooked, (c) about 
his own children in England, (d) what winter is like when there 
is snow and ice. 

Exercise ioi. — Try in the same way to bring out character by 
inventing a dialogue between the persons mentioned below : — 

1. A gentle elder sister and a little boy, very irritable and cross 
from a long illness. He wishes to go outdoors to play and is only 
persuaded to stay in by the promise of a new game. 

2. Two little girls playing at dolls. One is very much given 
to ordering the other about, but finally encounters rebellion. 

3. One boy is urging another to go swimming with him. The 
second boy is afraid and makes all kinds of excuses. 

4. A very bright pupil trying to explain a lesson in arithmetic 
to another who has no head for mathematics. 

5. Two little boys playing Indians; one is teaching another 
how to play. 

6. A father, tired and sleepy, and a little child asking questions. 

7. Imaginary conversation between a lion and a polar bear, 
whose cages are side by side in a circus. Each tells the other 
about his home life when he was free. 



CHAPTER XI 
DESCRIPTION 

61. Observation. — The first recommendation given in 
beginning any new form of composition is always to 
arrange what you wish to say in a logical and orderly 
manner, by means of an outline, either mental or writ- 
ten. In description, however, the first thing to do is to 
observe the subject of your composition, carefully, com- 
pletely, and accurately. 

You will be surprised to see how very carelessly you 
observe, as a rule, even things with which you are very 
familiar. 

Try, offhand, without further examination, to write a descrip- 
tion of a piece of money (copper, nickel, silver, gold, or paper), 
giving the dimensions and the color, and stating what some of the 
printing on it is ; and try in the same way to describe the face of a 
watch, telling the size and length of the hands, how they run, and 
what the printing is; to give an accurate and detailed account 
of the appearance of the front of your school building or church, 
your next door neighbor's house, the mechanism of a lamp, the 
exact disposition of the furniture in your parlor at home, a corn- 
stalk (size of leaves, shape, how they are set on the stalk, w T here the 
ears grow, how many wrappings of husk inclose them, etc.), a vio- 
let, a silk hat (height, width, shape, lining, w r idth of brim, etc.), a 
cat's forefeet (number of toes, sheath for the nail, how they curve 
in, why they do not penetrate the cushioned foot in w 7 alking, etc.), 
a common fly, a robin redbreast, the arrangement of panels in the 
front door of your house, an English sparrow, a postage stamp. 
Tell how a cow lies down; a horse; a dog. 

155 



156 ELEMENTARY COMPOSITION 

By such experiments you will find that you are hampered 
not by difficulty in expressing what you know, but by the great 
gaps in your knowledge of even such very familiar objects. You 
will discover that you have never really looked at them, although 
you may have seemed to do so every day since you can remember. 

Some people seem to have opened more eyes than others, 
they see with such force and distinctness ; their vision pene- 
trates the tangle and obscurity where that of others fails 
like a spent or impotent bullet. How many eyes did Gilbert 
White open ? How many did Henry Thoreau ? How 
many did Audubon ? How many does the hunter, match- 
ing his sight against the keen and alert senses of a deer 
or a moose or a fox or a wolf. Not outward eyes but in- 
ward. We open another eye whenever we see beyond the 
first general features or outlines of things — whenever we 
grasp the special details and characteristic markings that 
this mask covers. Science confers new powers of vision. 
Wherever you have learned to discriminate the birds, or the 
plants, or the geological features of a country, it is as if new 
and keener eyes were added. . . . We think we have looked 
at a thing sharply until we are asked for its specific features. 
I thought I knew exactly the form of the leaf of the tulip 
tree, until one day a lady asked me to draw the outlines of 
one. . . . The habit of observation is the habit of clear and 
decisive gazing ; not by a first, casual glance, but by a steady, 
deliberate aim of the eye are the rare and characteristic 
things discovered. You must look intently and hold your 
eye firmly to the spot, to see more than do the rank and file 
of mankind. — John Burroughs : Locusts and Wild Honey. 

Description by means of writing is often compared to 
the work of an artist, since the aim of both artist and 
writer is to present a visual image of their subject. 
But the writer of a description is more like a Japanese 



DESCRIPTION 157 

artist than one of his own race. The artists of Japan 
look long and fixedly at an object or scene or person, 
and then produce the picture from memory. In gen- 
eral, it is not often easy to write your description while 
you are actually in presence of the thing you wish 
to picture, so that after quick, keen, and accurate obser- 
vation you should try to cultivate a retentive memory 
for details. Try cultivating both of these qualities by 
some of the following class exercises. 

Exercise 102. — 1. Look for one minute by the clock at your 
teacher's desk, and then without another glance see who can de- 
scribe it with the most accuracy and completeness. 2. Turn to the 
title-page of this book, look at it for a moment, and then try to 
reproduce it. 3. Examine your own shoe for a moment and see 
how clearly you can describe it. 4. The stove or steam radiator 
in your room. 5. What you see from the window nearest you af- 
ter a moment's gaze. 6. Just how the inside of your desk looks 
now — exact place of books, pencils, note books, etc. 7. Just how 
the pupil next you is dressed, with as many details as a two- 
minute gaze will show you. 8. The exact arrangement of maps, 
pictures, reports, plants, etc., about the wall of your class room. 

As you go about your house or school, in the streets, 
or in the woods, try this exercise, either in competi- 
tion with a companion, or simply for your own satisfac- 
tion. In passing a shop window, see how many of the 
objects displayed you can remember, or in passing a 
brook, try to observe rapidly but accurately the exact 
nature of the banks at the place you crossed. See how 
definitely you can impress on your mind the appearance 
of any house you pass, or of a vehicle which passes you. 
After a moment's steady look at your mother's work- 
basket see how completely you can describe it, — or the 



158 ELEMENTARY COMPOSITION 

dining table set for dinner, or the front hall, with wraps 
and rubbers in it, or the parlor with several people in it, 
or the minister preaching in church. You will be sur- 
prised to find how much you have overlooked before, 
even in scenes which have been constantly before you. 
You will see that Mr. Burroughs does not exaggerate 
when he says that when we observe carefully and accu- 
rately, it is as though we had opened a new pair of eyes, 
"not outward but inward." 

62. General Scientific Description. — Notice the differ- 
ence between these two descriptions : — 

1. Gentiana crinita, Froel. Fringed Gentian. Leaves 
lanceolate or broader, with rounded or heart-shaped base ; 
flowers solitary on long peduncles terminating the stem or 
simple branches ; calyx with 4 unequal lobes ; corolla sky 
blue, showy, 2' long, funnel form, the 4 wedge-obovate lobes 
with margins cut into a long and delicate fringe. N. Eng., 
W. and S. — Leavitt's Outlines of Botany. 

2. Thou blossom bright with autumn dew, 
And colored with the heaven's own blue, 
That openest when the quiet light 
Succeeds the keen and frosty night. 

Thou comest not when violets lean 
O'er wandering brooks and springs unseen, 
Or columbines, in purple dressed, 
Nod o'er the ground-bird's hidden nest. 

Thou waitest late and com'st alone, 
When woods are bare and birds are flown, 
And frosts and shortening days portend 
The aged year is near his end. 



DESCRIPTION 159 

Then doth, thy sweet and quiet eye 
Look through its fringes to the sky, 
Blue — blue — as if that sky let fall 
A flower from its cerulean wall. 

I would that thus, when I shall see 
The hour of death draw near to me, 
Hope, blossoming within my heart, 
May look to heaven as I depart. 

— Bryant : To the Fringed Gentian. 

You will see at once how extremely varied different 
forms of description may be when you reflect that these 
two extracts are both descriptions of the same thing. 
The prose extract presents a plain and accurate account 
of facts. The poetry aims to give a description of the 
object which will interest, please, and move the reader, 
and which will bring a picture vividly before his eyes. 
Between two examples contrasting so completely as 
these, there lies a long series of gradations from one 
variety of description to another. There are, however, 
two main divisions of this form of writing : the plain 
statement, whose only purpose is to present a picture of 
the object described and to interest the reader in doing 
so ; and scientific description, which bears about the 
same relation to literary description as a business letter 
to a friendly one. They both present facts, but in one 
case for the sake of the facts and in the other in order 
to interest the reader. 

When analyzed, scientific description is found to be 
simply a list of all the facts about a given subject. 
These facts, however, must not be gathered together 



160 ELEMENTARY COMPOSITION 

and thrown into a paragraph without order. In the 
plainest sort of description there must be a regular 
plan. Begin by stating definitely what it is you are 
about to treat, or give a definition of it as it stands 
in its broad relations to other things, so that your 
reader may have a general notion of your subject. This 
is called the introduction, and should vary in length 
and explicitness according to the familiarity of /our 
theme. If you are about to describe the common house 
fly, a simple statement to that effect is enough ; but if 
you are beginning a description of a rare dragon fly, 
you will need not only to give the name, but where it 
is found, its general relation to other families of flies 
more familiar, and perhaps to tell how you happened to 
see it, where it may be observed, etc. In general, how- 
ever, the introduction should always be brief and very 
much to the point, since it is a common fault for 
inexperienced writers to delay too long over the 
beginning. 

After this, take up, one by one, in the order of their 
importance, the main qualities of your subject. For this 
purpose you should have brief outlines prepared, so that 
you will not state small and non-essential details before 
essentials. 

The following description of the group of birds known 
as warblers will aid you as a model : — 

When you begin to study the warblers, you will probably 
conclude that you know nothing about birds and can never 
learn. But if you begin by recognizing their common traits, 
and study a few of the easiest and those that nest in your 
locality, you will be less discouraged; and when the flocks 



DESCRIPTION 161 

come back at the next migrations, you will be able to master 
the oddities of a large number. 

Most of them are very small — much less than half the 
size of a robin — and are not only short, but slender. Active 
as the chickadee or kinglet, they flit about the trees and 
undergrowth after insects, without charity for the observer 
who is trying to make out their markings. Unlike the wax- 
wing, whose quiet ways are matched by its subdued tints, 
the warblers are dashed with all the glories of the rainbow, 
a flock of them looking as if a painter's palette had been 
thrown at them. 

Why they should be called warblers is a puzzle, as a 
large percentage of them have not as much song as a chippy, 
nothing but a thin chatter, or a shrill piping trill. If you 
wish a negative conception of them, think of the coloring 
and habits of the cuckoo. No contrast could be more com- 
plete. The best places to look for them during migration are 
in young trees, orchards, and sunny slopes. I find them in 
old orchards, swamps, the raspberry patch, and the edge of 
the woods. — Florence A. Merriam : Birds through an Opera 
Glass. 

Study this description, and you will discover the plan 
on which it is built. First comes the introduction, 
giving general directions for recognizing the subject. 
Then the most noticeable characteristics are stated, the 
size and shape. Habits of great activity are next 
mentioned, and a general notion of coloring is given. 
The song of the warblers is then taken up, and the 
description is summed up in a sentence by contrasting 
them with the cuckoo. The statement of where they 
are found could well have been placed at the beginning, 
directly after the introduction. 



162 ELEMENTARY COMPOSITION 

Exercise 103. — Using this as a model, describe any variety of 
bird or animal with which you are familiar, such as English 
sparrows, hens, parrots, ducks, dogs, cats, horses, goats, rabbits, 
squirrels, pigeons, geese, sheep. 

Exercise 104. — Describe tomatoes, peaches, apricots, grapes, 
potatoes, carrots, watermelons, rice, blackberries, huckleberries, 
corn, wheat, oats, rye. Use the following as a model : — 

The apple is one of the most widely cultivated, and best known 
and appreciated of fruits belonging to temperate climates. In its 
wild state it is known as the crabapple, and is found generally 
distributed through Europe and Western Asia. The apple tree, 
as cultivated, is a moderate -sized tree with spreading branches, 
ovate, acutely serrated or crenated leaves, and flowers in corymbs. 
It is successfully cultivated in higher latitudes than any other fruit 
tree, growing up to 65° N. ; but, notwithstanding this, its blossoms 
are more susceptible of injury from frost than the flowers of the 
peach or apricot. It comes into flower much later than these 
trees, and so avoids the night frost, which would be fatal to its 
fruit bearing. The apples which are grown in northern regions 
are, however, small, hard, and crabbed, the best fruit being 
produced in hot summer climates, such as Canada and the 
United States." — Encyclopedia Britannica. 

Try sometimes to make these descriptions so complete that your 
classmates can recognize what you are describing without knowing 
your subject beforehand. An almost infinite list of subjects suit- 
able for scientific description could be given, but enough titles have 
been suggested to show you that you have only to look about you 
to find themes for the exercise. 

63. Specific Scientific Description. — Compare with the 
treatment of the warblers in general this description 
of one particular variety of that species, by the same 
author, a little later in the same book. 

The Blackburnian is one of the handsomest and most 
easily recognized of the warblers. His throat is a rich 



DESCRIPTION 163 

orange or flame color, so brilliant that it is enough in itself 
to distinguish him from any of the others. His back is 
black with yellow markings. His crown is black, but has 
an orange spot in the center, and the rest of his head, 
except near his eye, is the same flaming orange as his 
throat. His wings have white patches, and his breast is 
whitish tinged with yellow. His sides are streaked with 
black. The female and young are duller, the black of 
their backs being mingled with olive ; while their throats 
are yellow instead of orange. 

In this case, the author, having stated the general 
characteristics and habits of the family of warblers, needs 
only to describe minutely the appearance of one variety. 

Exercise 105. — Take up in this way a special variety of the 
general topics you described in the last exercise : Buff Cochin 
hens ; parrots from Central America ; Royal Pekin ducks ; New- 
foundland or St. Bernard dogs, terriers, bull dogs, or grey- 
hounds ; Shetland ponies, race horses, or heavy draught horses ; 
white rabbits or Belgian hares ; gray squirrels, chipmunks, red 
squirrels or flying squirrels ; pouter pigeons or homing pigeons. 

64. Technical Terms. — In describing some objects 
you will find that careful and accurate observation 
and logical arrangement of your information are not 
enough. You will discover that you do not know the 
names for all the various parts of your subject. In at- 
tempting to write a complete description of even as 
well known an object as a flower or fruit, you will 
probably need to consult a dictionary or a scientific 
work, to learn the botanical names. Minute scientific 
description is, therefore, an excellent exercise for 
enlarging your vocabulary, for giving you control over 



164 ELEMENTARY COMPOSITION 

more words. In using very technical terms, which 
may be as unfamiliar to your reader as they were to 
you before you made a study of your subject, add a 
brief explanation of the meaning. 

Exercise 106. — Give'a plain, scientific description of one or more 
of the illustrations given in your dictionary, remembering to start 
from some point and to proceed regularly from there in your de- 
scription. For instance, in describing a ship under sail, begin at the 
water line and go up to the top of the masts, or else in the opposite 
direction ; but do not begin at the stern, jump to the bow, and 
then back again to the masts. Do not attempt to explain the 
different qualities, the workings, or the interior parts of these 
objects. You will have this to do in exposition. Simply describe 
as accurately as possible their aspect, on the model of the descrip- 
tion of the Blackburnian warbler. 

Exercise 107. — Describe scientifically and specifically, using 
correct botanical terms, an individual example of one of the list of 
topics given you for general treatment on page 162, taking up 
(1) the general habit of growth, (2) usual location, (3) usual 
dimensions of whole plant, (4) body of the plant, (5) leaves, 
(6) flowers, (7) fruit and seeds, (8) any general remarks as to its 
usefulness in the world, etc. In addition, treat similarly the sun- 
flower, seaweed, pansies, the peanut vine, the hazel nut, witch-hazel, 
the forget-me-not, the golden-rod, the willow, the sumac. 

65. Literary Description. — An example of literary 
description, very far removed from the scientific 
variety, is the following extract: — 

We had a remarkable sunset one day last November. I 
was walking in a meadow, the source of a small brook, w r hen 
the sun at last, just before setting after a cold gray day, 
reached a clear stratum in the horizon ; and the softest, 
brightest morning sunlight fell on the dry grass, and on the 



DESCRIPTION 165 

stems of the trees in the opposite horizon, and on the leaves 
of the scrub oaks on the hillside, while our shadows 
stretched long over the meadows eastward as if we were only 
motes in its beams. It was such a light as we could not 
have imagined a moment before, and the air also was so 
warm and serene that nothing was wanting to make a 
paradise of that meadow. When we reflected that this was 
not a solitary phenomenon, never to happen again, but that 
it would harjpen forever and ever an infinite number of 
evenings, and cheer and reassure the latest child that walked 
then, it was more glorious still. — H. D. Thoreau : Excursions. 

The real point of difference between such a descrip- 
tion and the account of the Blackburnian warbler is that 
the aim in the one case is to present facts and in the 
other to present a picture. Observation, however accu- 
rate, and order, however logical, are not enough for this 
sort of description. You must interest and please, or 
you have failed of your purpose . You must observe keenly 
and arrange your material carefully, but you must do 
more than this. You must remember all the time that 
you are trying to make a picture, and in many regards 
you need to follow the same rule as the artist does in 
painting. 

For instance, he establishes himself in one place and 
draws the object, scene, or person as it looks to him 
from there. You would laugh at a painter wdio, in 
drawing a solid oak door, put in a person standing on 
the other side of it, but one of the first things to 
remember in making your written picture is not to put 
in details which you could not see from the point where 
you have placed yourself to make your sketch. In 



166 ELEMENTARY COMPOSITION 

describing the view from a high hill, you must not 
write, "The woods back of our house looked like a green 
carpet and the house like the tiniest sort of a child's 
plaything. The sun shining in the windows of the 
front parlor made the room look as though it were 
smiling." The last sentence may be perfectly true, 
and in an account of the front parlor would be a good 
piece of description, but since you could not possibly 
see that detail from the top of a distant hill, it is 
absurd to use it. 

More even than this, you must learn to remove too 
much detail from your descriptions. Not only should 
you refrain from using anything you cannot see from 
the point where you have placed yourself, but you 
should not use all the things you can see. In the 
exercises on scientific description j^ou have been observ- 
ing, as completely as you possibly could, a given 
subject, and putting into your composition all the 
facts you could see or learn about. In literary descrip- 
tion the process is quite different. You must train 
yourself to leave out a great many details, and to 
select those you use with great care for their value in 
aiding you to give your reader a lifelike picture. In 
describing a house scientifically, it is of just as much 
value to say that there are eight windows on the north 
side as that it stands on a high hill, for what you wish 
to do is to convey all the information you can about 
the house. But in a literary description you should 
not mention the windows at all, unless there is some- 
thing unusual about them, and you should pick out 
for mention only the features that make that house 



DESCRIPTION 167 

different from other houses ; so that one of the first 
things you would say is spme presentation of the fact 
that it is on a hill. 

At length we stopped before a very old house bulging 
out over the road ; a house with long low lattice-windows 
bulging out still further, and beams with carved heads on 
the ends bulging out too, so that I fancied the whole house 
was leaning forward, trying to see who was passing on the 
narrow pavement below. It was quite spotless in its 
cleanliness. The old-fashioned brass knocker on the low 
arched door, ornamented with carved garlands of fruit and 
flowers, twinkled like a star. The two stone steps descend- 
ing to the door were as white as if they had been covered 
with fair linen ; and all the angles and corners, and 
carvings and moldings, and quaint little panes of glass, 
and quainter little windows, though as old as the hills, 
were as pure as any snow that ever fell from the hills. 
— Charles Dickens : David Copperjield. 

In this sketch of a house nothing is mentioned that 
could not be seen both from the position of a person 
who has just stepped in front of it and in the time 
which would naturally elapse between his ringing the 
doorbell and the arrival of some one to answer it. 
Notice also that a general impression of the whole 
house is given in the first sentence. Just as an artist 
making a sketch draws first a general rough outline of 
the whole object, " blocking in " (as it is called) the 
proportions and general aspect before going on to 
details ; so a good beginning for a description is some 
general summing up of the first impression made upon 
you by the scene, or of the impression you desire to 



168 ELEMENTARY COMPOSITION 

make upon your reader. This corresponds to the topic 
sentence of a paragraph. 

Exercise 108. — Write a description from a fixed point, and as 
if after only a few moments' look, of the general impression 
made upon the observer by any of the following subjects, trying 
to catch some characteristic trait or quality, which you can state in 
one metaphor or comparison, as the predominating effect. For 
instance : — 

1. I fancied that the whole house was leaning forward, trying 
to see who was passing on the narrow pavement below. 

2. The deep projection of the second story gave the house such a 
meditative look that you could not pass it without the idea that 
it had secrets to keep, and an eventful history to moralize upon. 

3. The nest looks as if it barely touched the twigs from which 
it hung ; but when you examine it, you may find that the gray fibers 
have woven the wood in so securely that the nest would have to 
be torn in pieces before it could be loosened from the twigs. 

Make your descriptions brief and try to convey vividly the first 
impression. 

The front of your school building, your home, an old barn, the 
handsomest house in your neighborhood, a country church, the 
kitchen of your home, your own room, a hen house with the hens just 
going to roost, a dovecot, any public monument you may know, the 
inside of a public library, the post office, a drug store, a carpenter's 
shop, a blacksmith's, an iron foundry, a milliner's shop, a beehive, 
a crow's nest, an ant-hill, a spider's web, an aquarium, a farm- 
house, a tall office building, an ocean steamer, a sailboat, any 
curious house you may have seen. 

One good exercise for forcing yourself to express 
quickly the aspect of a given object at a given time is 
to try to describe something in very rapid motion, of 
which you can get only a momentary glimpse. For 
instance : — 



DESCRIPTION 169 

1. The squirrel would shoot up the tree, making only a 
brown streak from the bottom to the top. 

2. Away across the endless dead level of the prairie a black 
speck appears against the sky, and it is plain that it moves. 
Well, I should think so ! In a second or two it becomes a 
horse and rider, rising and falling, rising and falling, sweep- 
ing toward us nearer and nearer, growing more and more 
distinct, more and more sharply defined, nearer and still 
nearer, and the flutter of the hoofs comes faintly to the 
ear. Another instant, a whoop and hurrah from all of us, 
a wave of the rider's hand, but no reply, and man and horse 
burst past our excited faces, and go winging away like a 
belated fragment of a storm! 

Exercise 109. — 1. Try to give a brief, vivid impression of an 
express train passing at full speed, an automobile, a steamer, a 
race horse, a man running, a dog chasing a cat. 2. Describe how 
you are impressed by the passage through a short tunnel of a train 
you are on, by a village you pass on an express, by a bit of forest 
your train darts through. 

66. Description of People. — Read these two passages, 
the second of which is a description by the historian 
Motley of Thackeray, the great English novelist. 

1. Mr. Creakle's face was fiery, and his eyes were small 
and deep in his head. He had thick veins in his forehead, 
a little nose, and a large chin. He was bald on the top of 
his head, and had some thin, wet-looking hair that was just 
turning gray, brushed across each temple, so that the two 
sides interlaced on his forehead. But the circumstance 
about him which most impressed me was that he had no 
voice, but spoke in a whisper. — Charles Dickens: David 
Copperfield. 



170 ELEMENTARY COMPOSITION 

2. He has the appearance of a colossal infant, smooth, 
white, shiny, ringlety hair, — flaxen alas ! with advancing 
years, a roundish face, with a little dab of a nose, upon which 
it is a perpetual wonder how he keeps his spectacles, a sweet 
but rather piping voice with something of a childish treble 
about it, and a very tall, slightly stooping figure. 

In writing this sort of quick sketch, notice what im- 
presses you first about your subject, that is, what is the 
most characteristic feature. In Dickens's description of 
the house, it was the fact that the whole building seemed 
to be leaning forward ; in Motley's picture of Thackeray, 
it was the fact that the great novelist looked curiously 
like a little child ; in Dickens's Mr. Creakle, it was the 
fact that the school-teacher had no voice. 

Exercise no. — I. Write in the same way as in the preceding 
lesson a picture, in a paragraph or two, suggested by any of the 
following subjects, trying to catch the most characteristic points, 
such as would impress you after a moment's observation, and to 
state them vividly and briefly, so that the description may be 
recognizable. 

The iceman ; the policeman ; the washerwoman ; the janitor; a 
street-car conductor ; a postman ; an organ grinder ; a newsboy ; 
a farmer ; a classmate ; a messenger boy ; a butcher ; any one of 
unusual appearance who has passed you in the street, or whom you 
have seen in the cars. 

II. Or, give in the same brief, picturesque manner the impres- 
sion made by a first sight of your dog as differing from other dogs 
of the same breed, trying to express the way in which his charac- 
ter shows itself through his appearance — kind and slow, or ner- 
vous and active, or affectionate and playful, etc. ; of any dog you 
have seen who has a marked individuality ; of your cat, canary, or 
any of your pets. 

In describing a person you will find very often that 



DESCRIPTION 171 

you are most impressed by the eyes, and that they give 
the characteristic expression to the face. These fol- 
lowing extracts, taken from one novel, the work of a 
skillful writer, show how much attention is paid to the 
eyes of the persons decribed : — 

1. She was tall and pale, thin and a little awkward; her 
hair was fair and perfectly straight; her eyes were dark and 
they had the singularity of seeming at once dull and restless. 

2. The second young lady was also thin and pale; but she 
was older than the other ; she was shorter ; she had dark, 
smooth hair. Her eyes, unlike the other's, were quick and 
bright ; but they were not at all restless. 

3. This latter personage was a man of rather less than 
the usual stature and the usual weight, with a quick, obser- 
vant, agreeable dark eye. 

4. She was a fair, plump person, of medium stature, with 
a round face, a small mouth, a delicate complexion, a bunch 
of light brown curls at the back of her head, and a peculiarly 
open, surprised-looking eye. 

Exercise in. — I. Look at a portrait or bust of Julius Csesar 
and see if you think his appearance as a young man was well 
described by the historian Froude in the following extract : — 

A tall, slight, handsome youth, with dark piercing eyes, a sal- 
low complexion, large nose, lips full, features refined and intel- 
lectual, neck sinewy and thick, beyond what might have been 
expected from the generally slender figure. 

II. Write a paragraph or two describing the personal appearance 
of any noted man or woman with whose portrait you are familiar. 
Try to reproduce the most striking traits, describing them as if 
you were speaking of a living person. 

(a) Sir Walter Scott, George Eliot, Hawthorne, Longfellow, 
James Russell Lowell, Whittier, Bryant, Dickens, Tennyson, Louisa 
M. Alcott. 



172 ELEMENTARY COMPOSITION 

(b) George Washington, Daniel Webster, Abraham Lincoln, 
General Grant, Alexander Hamilton, Bismarck, Napoleon, Julius 
Caesar, Queen Victoria, Queen Wilhelmina. 

III. Think over some of the fictitious characters given below ; 
try to imagine how they would look, and write a brief description 
as of a living person. Do not begin writing until you have a com- 
plete picture in your mind. 

Cinderella and her two wicked sisters, Robin Hood, Ali Baba, 
Robinson Crusoe, Sindbad the Sailor, Uncle Remus, The Sleeping 
Beauty, Shylock, King Lear, St. George, Santa Claus, Bluebeard, 
Ruth, Samuel, David and Goliath. 

67. Longer Description. — Yon are now ready to try 
descriptions on a little larger scale. Be careful, how- 
ever, to bear in mind the following hints : — 

1. Plan your whole description before you write 
any part of it, and see that you are following some 
natural order, such as from left to right, or right to 
left, from the top down, from the bottom up, from head 
to foot, etc. In describing a landscape, for instance, 
from a fixed point, after the introduction (usually only 
a single sentence) you begin with what is nearest to 
you — the foreground — and proceed to more distant 
points of the scene. Or you begin with what is far 
away — the background — and come closer and closer, 
finishing with the things immediately about you. 

2. Use no details which will not add to the vividness 
and force of your picture. In describing a library, for 
instance, you can very well leave out any mention of 
the number of chairs there are in the room, or of the 
fact that the front door is of oak, since those details 
might be true of any large public room. But you must 
not fail to notice and to remark on the stillness of the 



DESCRIPTION 173 

place, — people walking about very quietly and talking 
in whispers, standing close to each other, — for that is one 
of the things which distinguishes a library from other 
places. So, in writing of both a handsome street and 
an alleyway, you would be telling the truth if you said 
that they were both paved and had a gutter on each 
side, but you would not be making a picture, as you 
would if you spoke of battered ash barrels and hungry 
cats in the alley, and of beautiful lawns and pretty 
romping children in the handsome street. In observ- 
ing the scene you \vish to describe, you should notice 
everything, looking at a sight long familiar to you 
with the steady gaze you had to give in order to see 
what is really on a postage stamp or a dollar bill. You 
will find that you have looked at the view from your 
window with the same careless, vacant, absent gaze, lack- 
ing real attention, and that you need to fix your mind on 
observing a landscape or a scene, before you take in a 
great many details that are essential. But when you 
come to writing, you should think of each detail before 
you use it, to see if it brings the picture out more 
clearly. 

3. Use some device for expressing the relation be- 
tween the different parts of your picture. This is 
usually done by employing complex sentences made up 
by means of connecting links, such as near which, above 
which, around which, etc., and by using such phrases as 
farther off, nearer by, close at hand, far away, in the dis- 
tance, high up, directly below, on the other side, beyond, etc. 

Exercise 112. — Describe such of the following as your teacher 
may indicate : — 



174 ELEMENTARY COMPOSITION 

1. What I see from my window at home, at school. 2. View 
from the highest place to which I ever climbed. 3. View from the 
top of our house. 4. The most beautiful view I ever saw. 5. How 
our street looks from our front steps. 6. Across the meadow. 
7. How my room looks from the door. 8. The views in the park 
I like best. 9. View along a country road. 10. Trees along a village 
street. 11. View along a street in a large city. 12. The inside of 
our church from where I sit. 13. My class room from my seat. 14. 
Our kitchen. 15. The inside of a barn. 16. What I can see from 
the door of a barn. 17. An alleyway in a city. 18. View along the 
most beautiful street I know. 19. View from the back of a river 
or lake. 20. Imaginary description of the view I should like best 
to be able to see from my window. 21. How my room would 
look if I could have it exactly as I wished. 22. The prettiest par- 
lor I ever saw. 23. How the inside of a public library looks from 
the door. 24. A view in the, woods in the winter. 25. An orchard 
in bloom. 26. Beside the brook. 27. In the market. 28. Scene 
in a department store ; in a hospital ; in a restaurant. 29. A soda- 
water fountain. 30. A sand pile where children have been playing 
"keep-house." 31. Any scene at a county fair. 

68. Description of Conditions. — Read the following 
description : — 

A cornfield in July is a hot place. The soil is hot and 
dry; the wind comes across the lazily murmuring leaves 
laden with a warm, sickening smell drawn from the rapidly 
growing, broad-flung banners of the corn. The sun, nearly 
vertical, drops a flood of dazzling light and heat upon the 
field, over which the cool shadows run, only to make the heat 
seem the more intense. —Hamlin Garland : Main-traveled 
Roads. 

The first sentence of this paragraph states the fact 
that the author wished to convey to you. All the rest 
is added to make the conditions seem vivid to you, to 



DESCRIPTION 175 

make you feel the heat, smell the rank odor of the corn, 
and hear the murmur of the leaves. You will notice that 
this is different from the description in the last lesson, 
where you have been trying to tell merely how a scene 
or object looked to you, to make a picture such as an 
artist might paint. Here you are made to notice odors, 
motion, noises, and heat, — things that a painter would 
find it difficult to suggest in any picture. 

Think how different would be the effect of intense cold 
on a street in a big city or in the heart of the forest, and 
you will see that in the effect of given conditions on all 
kinds of objects you have one of the best methods of 
portraying a scene. 

For instance, in both the country and the city the rapid 
approach of a thundershower is preceded by black clouds 
and a high wind. The difference lies in what effect 
these things have. In the country, the wind tosses the 
trees wildly about, roars among the branches, scatters 
the dry leaves in volleys. In the city the arrival of a 
storm is heralded by a flapping of awnings, little whirl- 
winds of dust, crowds of people hurrying to shelter 
or looking up at the sky, and a hasty removal indoors 
of everything that would be spoiled by the rain. 

Exercise 113. — In treating such of the following subjects as your 
teacher may indicate, try to notice odor, noise, and movement as 
well as form, color, and position : — 

1. A very cold day in a city street, in a barnyard full of animals, 
in our class room, on the playground, in the woods, beside a river 
or brook, on a street car, in a railway train, at the station. 2. A 
very rainy day in our garden, in summer, in spring, in autumn, 
inside a barn, in an attic, in a henyard, in a crowded business 



176 ELEMENT ABY COMPOSITION 

street, on a boat, at the door of a department store, or church, or 
theater, at a country fair, at a picnic. 3. A snowstorm in the 
country, in the city. 4. Muddy walking on a country road, in a 
plowed field, in a city street, on the playground, at the door of 
our school. 5. A hot night on our piazza, indoors, in a public 
square, in the woods, in a theater, in a flower garden, in the street 
in front of our house, at a pleasure resort. 6. A high wind in the 
country, in the city, in summer, in autumn, in winter, on the 
harbor or river, at sea, in a tall tower, an attic (this mainly for 
sounds), in a pasture full of horses, in a group of pine trees, in a 
cornfield, in a city park, in a city court on wash day. 

Exercise 114. — As a class exercise, try writing on some one 
subject and comparing the results. See who has been able to pro- 
duce the clearest impression and why his description is successful. 
The subjects should be only those of which the whole class has 
an equal knowledge, e.g. description of some public person who 
has addressed the school ; of the walk to school on a snowy, rainy, 
or hot day, of the playground at recess time, of the aspect of the 
halls directly after school is dismissed, of the schoolroom, of any 
incident which all the pupils saw, a fire in the neighborhood, etc. 

69. Description by Contrast. — Another excellent 
device in description is contrast. For instance, if 3-011 
wish to describe the effect made by a day in the woods 
when rain has frozen in falling and has coated every- 
thing with ice, you might begin by making a brief 
picture of such a day in the city, — every one slipping 
uncomfortably, horses straining painfully to keep their 
footing, the wheels of street cars revolving uselessly on 
an ice-coated track; and then suddenly transfer your 
description to the woods, where the trees are as though 
made of glass, every little twig a prism to reflect 
light, and where the bits of ice falling from the trees 
tinkle like broken glass on the frozen snow. 



DESCRIPTION 177 

Exercise 115. — Describe, by contrasting with each other : — 

1. A heavy draught horse and a race horse. 2. A canoe and a raft. 
3. A Newfoundland dog and a pug dog. 4. Your class room when 
every one is busy and quietly studying, when every one is just going 
away, and when it is deserted after school hours. 5. The kitchen 
of your house on different occasions, — washing, ironing, just be- 
fore dinner, just after a candy pull, after the work is all done, on 
a Sunday afternoon. 6. A theater full of people and bright with 
lights, afterward darkened and deserted except for cleaning 
women. 7. Our garden at different times of year, — in spring, 
when planting is being done ; when I am weeding it on a hot 
day in summer ; when everything is ripe in autumn ; in winter, 
snow-covered. 8. A grocer's shop in early morning with a sleepy 
boy sweeping out, and later when full of customers and clerks. 

9. An apple tree in blossom ; in autumn with ripe fruit ; in winter. 

10. A brook or river frozen over with skaters on it, and in mid- 
summer with swimmers, etc. 11. The route I generally take to 
and from school, — in the morning (other pupils going to school ; 
business men going to their offices ; butcher's carts and grocery 
and ice wagons) ; in the afternoon (nurses out with babies, ladies 
calling, children at play, etc.). 12. A public square in its ordi- 
nary aspect, and on the Fourth of July, or Decoration Day, or 
Election Night. 13. A department store full of shoppers just 
before Christmas, and early in the morning on a hot summer day, 
with only the clerks and a few customers. 14. A railway station, 
quiet and deserted, with only a few travelers waiting silently, and 
when an important train arrives, bringing a crowd of passengers. 

70. Description of Events. — In the extract given 
below there is a certain amount of definite information 
conveyed, in addition to the pictures presented. 

Slowly and mournfully they carried his embalmed body 
in a procession of great state to Paris, and thence to Kouen, 
where his queen was, from whom the sad intelligence of his 
death was concealed until he had been dead some days. 



178 ELEMENTARY COMPOSITION 

Thence, lying on a bed of crimson and gold, with a golden 
crown upon his head and a golden ball and scepter lying in 
the nerveless hands, they carried him to Calais, with such a 
great retinue as seemed to dye the road black. The King 
of Scotland acted as chief mourner, all the Eoyal House- 
hold followed; the knights wore black armor and black 
plumes of feathers, crowds of men bore torches, making the 
night as light as day ; and the widowed Princess followed last 
of all. At Calais there was a fleet of ships to bring the 
funeral host to Dover ; and so, by way of London Bridge, 
where the service for the dead was chanted as it passed 
along, they brought the body to Westminster Abbey, and 
there buried it with great respect. — Charles Dickens: A 
Child's History of England. 

An account of almost any happening, custom, or 
festival must be told in this way, with an eye both to 
stating facts clearly and at the same time to making 
them seem lifelike. 

This sort of exercise is harder than anything you 
have yet tried, for you must be at once complete and 
full in your account and yet must continue to go on in 
the sort of picture making you have been practicing. 
In a way, this is almost a return to some of the ex- 
ercises in narrative which you have had, since a descrip- 
tion of several happenings in order of time is really a 
narrative. At any rate, in trying this sort of descrip- 
tion you are like a person who has been learning to play 
the piano, first with the right hand and then with the 
left, and finally with both together in a simple but com- 
plete melody. You are to keep in mind that you have 
two aims in view: to be as full as is necessary to give 



DESCBIPTION 179 

an accurate idea of the facts, and to attempt to present 
a picture. 

Exercise 116. — Describe accurately, as though for a newspaper 
or magazine, but trying to reproduce some of the essential char- 
acters of the event : — 

A fire drill in your school ; how you celebrate Fourth of July, 
Thanksgiving, Hallowe'en, Xew Year's Day ; laying the corner 
stone of a new building ; the procession of the veterans on Deco- 
ration Day : a political parade or meeting ; a wedding ; a funeral ; 
the parade of the Fire Department ; a play or entertainment given 
by your school. 

71. Picture Making of Scenes of Action. — Here, in- 
stead of describing something stationary, like a house or 
landscape, the writer has taken one moment of a scene of 
action, and has attempted to make, as it were, a snapshot 
photograph of it. 

To-day the large side doors were thrown open toward 
the sun to admit a beautiful light to the immediate spot of 
the shearers' operations, which was the wood threshing floor 
in the center, formed of thick oak, black with age. Here 
the shearers knelt, the sun slanting in on their bleached 
shirts, tanned arms, and the polished shears they flourished, 
causing them to bristle with a thousand rays strong enough 
to blind a weak-eyed man. Beneath them a captive sheep 
lay panting, increasing the rapidity of its pants as misgiv- 
ing merged in terror, till it quivered like the hot landscape 
outside. — Thomas Hardy: Far from the Madding Crowd. 

All the painters of historical pictures try in the same 
way to paint one moment of a well-known incident, and 
they select some significant moment; that is, one where 
the action tells something of the story involved. 



180 ELEMENTARY COMPOSITION 

Exercise 117. — I. Imagine that you are about to paint a picture 
of any one of the following scenes, and describe what comes into 
your mind when you think of the incident. Do not tell the story — 
simply describe the scene at a given moment. 

I. Columbus sighting land. 2. Columbus landing. 3. The 
burial of De Soto. 4. Pocohontas saving the life of John Smith. 
5. Penn making a treaty with the Indians. 6. A scene in the at- 
tack on Bracldock by Indian skirmishers. 7. An night attack by 
Indians on a colonial settlement. 8. The discovery of Major Andre. 
9. King Alfred and the cakes. 10. The rain of manna on the 
Children of Israel. 

II. Try in the following subjects to make a picture which 
would serve as illustration to a story. See if you can make the 
picture recognizable, so that your classmates can tell what the story 
is from the one scene from it which you present them. 

1. Horatius at the bridge. 2. The Sleeping Beauty. 3. Wil- 
liam Tell and the apple. 4. Cinderella trying on the slipper. 
5. Ivanhoe and Rebecca during the progress of the battle which 
Rebecca is describing. 6. Ulysses, returned to Ithaca, is recog- 
nized by his old dog Argus. 7. Uncle Remus telling stories to 
the little boy. 8. Barbara Frietchie. 9. Robinson Crusoe and the 
footprints. 

Here is a description, by Parkman, of the robbing of a 
train of pack horses carrying valuable goods. 

Advancing deeper among the mountains, they began to 
descend the valley at the foot of Sidling Hill. The laden 
horses plodded knee-deep in snow. The mountains towered 
above the wayfarers in gray desolation, and the leafless 
forest howled dreary musi<5 to the wind of March. 

Suddenly, from behind snow-beplastered trunks and 
shaggy bushes of evergreen, uncouth apparitions started into 
view. Wild visages protruded, grotesquely horrible with 
vermilion and ocher, white lead and soot; stalwart limbs 
appeared, encased in buckskin ; and rusty rifles thrust out 



DESCRIPTION 181 

their long muzzles. In front and flank and all around them 
white puffs of smoke and sharp reports assailed the bewil- 
dered senses of the travelers. — Francis Parkman : The Con- 
spiracy of Pontiac. 

With this description you are again almost back to 
narration. The extract presents two pictures, and in so 
doing, relates a story. 

This way of telling a story by a succession of pictures 
is a favorite one with comic illustrators, but it is also 
used very often in writing, although in a real narration 
explanatory matter is added between the scenes. 

Exercise 118. — The following topics are given as subjects for 
description only, and you are to try to give as vivid a picture of the 
two scenes as you can, letting the story tell itself by inference. 

1. Boys skating at top speed along a river with a pack of wolves 
in the distance. A camp of wood choppers beside the river, a fire 
burning, the boys fallen exhausted, and men starting up with guns 
in their hands. 

2. People on a raft waving coats and handkerchiefs wildly. On 
board a big ocean steamer, with passengers gathered around the 
group of rescued castaways. 

3. A Christmas tree inside a richly furnished room with well- 
dressed children gathered around it. Outside in the snow a group 
of poor children looking in at the window. 

4. A boy with a swollen jaw in the dentist's chair. A group of 
smaller children to whom the boy proudly holds up a tooth. 

5. A hen calling wildly to her chickens and trying to cover 
them with her wings, and a farmer running up with a gun. The 
farmer has his gun in one hand, and with the other holds up a 
big hen-hawk for a group of people to see. 

6. A street with everybody running in one direction, pointing 
ahead. A house on fire with firemen climbing up on ladders. 

7. A family assembled at the dinner table in the evening quietly 
talking together. A man taps on the window pane outside ; every 



182 ELEMENTARY COMPOSITION 

one starts up in surprise and great pleasure, as if he were a rela- 
tive returned from travels. 

8. A group of women gathered at the end of a pier on a stormy 
night, straining their eyes anxiously out to sea. A fisherman 
returning up the beach, at early dawn, with a net full of fish on his 
back. In the background a small house with children running out 
to meet him. 

72. Travel. — It is hard to draw a definite line between 
descriptive writing and narrative writing, since descrip- 
tion is very often needed to make a narration interesting, 
and sometimes to make it complete. There is one kind 
of composition where the two methods of writing are 
needed in almost equal quantities, and that is in stories 
of travel. In writing an account of a journey, you have 
a distinct story to tell, since you are narrating a series of 
events that took place one after the other ; but without 
description of what you saw the account is scarcely 
worth writing at all. Your aim is to give your reader a 
clear idea of the course of your journey, and you can only 
do this by a combination of narration and description, 
by telling what happened and then by trying to make a 
picture of the event. So that there are two main things 
to remember in writing of travel : first, to make your 
journey clear and intelligible by following the time- 
order in your narration, and by recollecting all the 
important stages of the trip ; and, second, to select for 
description the most interesting incidents or places which 
you saw, and to write of them as vividly and pictur- 
esquely as possible. 

The roads were gay early next morning when we started, 
for it w r as market day, and the country people were flocking 



DESCRIPTION 183 

into town, some driving their pigs, some riding donkeys with 
calfskin saddles adorned with little red tassels ; the women 
wearing high-crowned hats with bright handkerchiefs tied on 
underneath, and bright cotton shawls; the men with brown- 
and-white-striped blankets gracefully thrown over the 
shoulder, and in their hands long, brass-tipped staves. Most 
of the women had large gold earrings, and some of them, in 
addition, gold chains and crosses and filigree heart-shaped 
pendants. We met presently a troop of fishwomen running 
at full speed to catch the market, their baskets balanced on 
their heads. Their earrings were hoop-shaped, and their 
skirts short and tucked up, and they had embroidered purses 
hanging at the side. The fishermen we overtook a little later, 
going back toward the sea with their nets. All had time to 
touch their caps and say " Good day," for civility to strangers 
is the rule in Portugal. Here and there were children mind- 
ing goats under the shade of the olives. E"o idlers, no beggars 
were to be seen. At noon we came to Alcobaca, and walked 
through the town to the great abbey church of the Cistercians. 
The market was going on outside it. Gayly dressed women 
presided over heaps of maize and oranges and eggs. Strings 
of donke}^s w r ere tied up by the wall. A scarlet-robed acolyte 
walked amongst the people collecting alms. A broad flight 
of steps led up to the great door. Inside all is very simple 
and grand — a vaulted roof, rows of slender columns, no 
pictures or tawdry decorations to be seen. Now and then, 
not very often, a woman would come in from the busy mar- 
ket place and kneel to say a silent prayer. . . . We visited 
the convent where Beckford had lived, and saw its great 
tiled kitchen and its beautiful cloisters, and then went back 
to the inn to lunch, where we enjoyed above all a liberal 
dish of green peas — green still in our memories. 

We drove on through pleasant fields and vineyards, catch- 



184 ELEMENTARY COMPOSITION 

ing sight now and then of the distant sea, and, suddenly 
coming to an open space through the trees, we saw before us 
the great memorial church of Batalha, the Battle Abbey of 
Portugal, its pinnacles and the delicate lace work of its roof 
standing out against the clear blue sky. It stands quite 
alone, except for the handful of red-tiled houses that form 
the village, and from its roof you look down, not on the smoke 
and turmoil of human habitations, but on green fields and 
slopes and olive trees ; and under its walls no troops of beg- 
gars, or pleasure seekers, or chattering merchants disturb the 
stillness. One only I saw there, sitting near the door under 
the shade of a bright-colored umbrella, a heap of pottery at 
her feet for sale, and a donkey tied up close by ; but her child • 
had fallen asleep in her arms, and she did not move or speak. 
Inside, also, all was quiet, and we could enjoy its beauty — the 
long aisles, the endless columns, the exquisite cloisters, where 
the fantastic and varied stone traceries contrast with the 
quaint formal garden with its box-edged beds, in which are 
set roses, and peonies, and columbines. . . . We learned that 
the church was founded in 1387 by the great King Joao soon 
after the fighting of the decisive victory which it commemo- 
rates, and that there is a doubt as to the architect employed, 
whether he was an Irishman named Hackett, or another. 
I am all for the Irishman, but hope he was not also respon- 
sible for the idea of laying the foundations in this hollow, 
where the water lies when the winter floods begin. We tried 
to find out, through Antonio, how high the water actually 
rises, but he would only wave his hands deferentially and 
say, as though he had been one of Canute's courtiers, " As 
high as you please, sir." That night we slept at Leiria. The 
inn is over a stable, and one room looks out on a piggery 
and another on a fowl yard. 

We said farewell to our mules, and took the train again at 



DESCRIPTION 185 

Pombal, interesting chiefly from its association with the 
great eighteenth-century statesman of the same name. We 
look out from the railway carriage on level meadows, purple 
with vipers' bugloss, bordering the Mondego, and then across 
a bend of the river where it is broadest we see Coimbra, the 
Oxford of Portugal, an ancient and beautiful city, beauti- 
fully set on a hillside. Bare-headed, black-robed students 
fill the streets, and swarm in and out of the doors of the uni- 
versity. The streets are steep and narrow, and here and 
there are unexpected gardens and blossoming Judas trees. 
— Lady Gre<jioiiy: Through Portugal. 

Exercise 119. — Write, either in letter form or as a composition, 
an account of any journey you have taken. It is better to select a 
small part of a trip , and describe that quite completely, than to try 
to cover a long journey. A day's excursion, if it is interesting, is 
enough as a rule for one exercise, although this is by no means an 
invariable rule. 

The following subjects are given as suitable for travel composi- 
tions, or as suggesting others : — 

1. Our trip to the county fair. 2. The journey I took the 
first time I saw the ocean. 3. How we go away for the summer : 
packing up, leaving the house, the journey with pet animals, etc., 
arrival. 4. A trip that should have been very short, but was 
made long by an accident. 5. How we go fishing, hunting, studying 
birds. 6. The trip to the greatest natural curiosity lever saw; 
a cave ; hanging cliff ; waterfall, etc. 

73. Descriptions of an Hour. — When you write an 
account of a journey, you are telling all the interesting 
events that occurred in your life on a certain day or 
days, or in a certain number of hours. Now you do 
not need to travel to have interesting things happen to 
you, and a lively and picturesque account of your 
doings for an afternoon or a morning may be extremely 



186 ELEMENTARY COMPOSITION 

readable, although perhaps you did not stir from one 
room. You will be quite surprised to see how many 
things you do, or any one else does, in a short space of 
time. 

The following passage from David Oopperfield is an 
account of how an underdone leg of mutton was made 
palatable after it had come to the table. No subject 
could be simpler, and yet it is treated in so lively a 
way that it is very entertaining. 

There was a gridiron in the pantry, on which my morn- 
ing rasher of bacon was cooked. We had it in, in a twin- 
kling, and immediately applied ourselves to carrying Mr. 
Micawber' s idea into effect. The division of labor to which 
he had referred was this : Traddles cut the mutton into 
slices ; Mr. Micawber (who could do anything of this sort 
to perfection) covered them with pepper, mustard, salt, and 
cayenne ; I put them on the gridiron, turned them with a 
fork, and took them off, under Mr. Micawber' s direction; 
and Mrs. Micawber heated, and continually stirred, some 
mushroom ketchup in a little saucepan. When we had 
slices enough to begin upon, we fell to, with our sleeves 
still tucked up at the wrists, more slices sputtering and 
blazing on the fire, and our attention divided between the 
mutton on our plates, and the mutton then preparing. 

What with the novelty of this cookery, the excellence of 
it, the bustle of it, the frequent starting up to look after it, 
the frequent sitting down to dispose of it as the crisp slices 
came off the gridiron hot and hot, the being so busy, so 
flushed with the fire, so amused, and in the midst of such a 
tempting noise and savor, we reduced the leg of mutton 
to the bone. My own appetite came back miraculously. 
I am ashamed to record it, but I really believe I forgot Dora 



DESCRIPTION 187 

for a little while. Traddles laughed heartily almost the 
whole time, as he ate and worked. Indeed we all did, all 
at once ; and I dare say there never was a greater success. 

We were at the height of our enjoyment, and were all 
busily engaged, in our several departments, endeavoring to 
bring the last batch of slices to a state of perfection that 
should crown the feast, when I was aware of a strange 
presence in the room, and my eyes encountered those of the 
staid Littimer, standing hat in hand before me. — Charles 
Dickens : David Copper field. 

Exercise 120. — I. Take apiece of paper and try to note down 
everything a baby of six or eight months does for a half an 
hour when he is wide awake and active. Or take similar notes of 
all that a two-year-old child does in an hour's play ; or watch a kitten 
amuse itself, and try to write an account of it that will give your 
reader some idea of the gay frolics of the little animal. If you 
can find a colony of ants, their movements will give you good 
material for this sort of composition ; or a pair of birds building 
a nest, or a crowd of little children playing. 

II. In the same way, write on any of the following subjects : — 
1. The story of a convalescent's afternoon. 2. The story of 
one day in house-cleaning time. 3. What we do on Sunday after- 
noon. 4. The first day at school after a vacation. 5. Our school 
picnic. 6. Two hours spent at a junction, waiting for a delayed 
train — how we amused ourselves. 7. The first time I ever rode 
horseback or tried to sail a boat. 8. The cook's last fifteen 
minutes before dinner is served. 9. An hour in a department 
store. 10. A visit to a flour mill, blacksmith shop, large bakery, 
candy factory, or any manufactory. 11. An afternoon spent just 
as I should like it best. 12. What a country boy does to amuse 
himself in two leisure hours ; a city boy. 13. The hardest hour's 
work I ever did. 14. The hour on a farm spent in feeding the 
animals. 15. How we hurried to catch the morning train. 
16. The half hour when I tried to amuse the baby. 



CHAPTER XII 

NARRATION {Continued) 

74. Historical Stories. — In writing on the subjects 
given below, you are to try to make a complete story, 
including the dialogue between the principal characters, 
what descriptions of scenery or people or houses you 
think are needed to make your picture vivid and your 
persons real, and what explanation of conditions or 
-surroundings are necessary to make the action intelli- 
gible. 

Once upon a time a worthy merchant of London, named 
Gilbert a Becket, made a pilgrimage to the Holy Land, and 
was taken prisoner by a Saracen lord. This lord, who 
treated him kindly and not like a slave, had one fair 
daughter, who fell in love with the merchant; and who 
told him that she wanted to become a Christian, and was 
willing to marry him if they could fly to a Christian country. 
The merchant returned her love, until he found an oppor- 
tunity to escape, when he did not trouble himself about the 
Saracen lady, but escaped with his servant Richard, who 
had been taken prisoner along with him, and arrived in 
England and forgot her. The Saracen lady, who was more 
loving than the merchant, left her father's house in disguise 
to follow him, and made her way, under many hardships, 
to the seashore. The merchant had taught her only two 
English words (for I suppose he must have learnt the Sar- 

188 



N AERATION 189 

acen tongue himself, and made love in that language), of 
which London was one, and his own name, Gilbert, the 
other. She went among the ships saying, "London! Lon- 
don ! " over and over again, until the sailors understood that 
she wanted to find an English vessel that would carry her 
there; so they showed her such a ship, and she paid for 
her passage with some of her jewels, and sailed away. 
Well ! The merchant was sitting in his counting house in 
London one day, when he heard a great noise in the street ; 
and presently Richard came running in from the warehouse 
with his eyes wide open and his breath almost gone, saying-, 
" Master, master, here is the Saracen lady ! " The mer- 
chant thought Richard was mad; but Richard said, "No, 
master ! As I live, the Saracen lady is going up and down 
the city, calling < Gilbert! Gilbert!'" Then he took the 
merchant by the sleeve and pointed out a window; and 
there they saw her among the gables and waterspouts of the 
dark, dirty streets, in her foreign dress, so forlorn, surrounded 
by a wondering crowd, and passing slowly along, calling 
" Gilbert ! Gilbert ! " When the merchant saw her and thought 
of the tenderness she had shown him in his captivity, and 
of her constancy, his heart was moved, and he ran down 
into the street ; and she saw him coming, and with a great 
cry fainted in his arms. They were married without loss 
of time, and Richard (who was an excellent man) danced 
with joy the whole day of the wedding; and they all lived 
happily ever afterward. 

This merchant and the Saracen lady had one son, Thomas 
a Becket. He it was who became the favorite of King 
Henry the Second. — Charles Dickens : A Child's History of 
England, 

Read this over very carefully and note the construc- 
tion of it. The first half is plain narration, such as you 



190 ELEMENTARY COMPOSITION 

have employed in historical writing, in fables, etc., but 
the second half is embellished narration, or a report of 
facts that at the same time gives you a lifelike pic- 
ture of how they took place. After telling you the first 
half of his story without description, or any attempt to 
make you see the scenes, Dickens gives you a complete 
and striking picture of the last part of the action. It 
is by no means always best to adopt this method in story 
telling, but in re-telling historical stories it is often a 
good plan, since frequently your reader needs a brief 
explanation of what the general conditions are before he 
can really understand the tale you wish to tell him. For 
instance, in writing the story of Robin Hood for a little 
boy, you would need to explain some of the conditions 
of England at that time, so that your reader would not 
•think of him as a common thief and poacher. 

Exercise iax. — Look up the facts about any of the following 
subjects, think them over, make the persons and scenes real to your 
own mind, and write as though trying to make the story clear, 
intelligible, interesting, and vivid to a boy or girl eight years 
old. 

1. Robin Hood. 2. William Tell and his little son. 3. King 
Alfred and the cakes. 4. John Smith and Pocohontas. 5. The 
youth of Hannibal and his vow of revenge on the Romans. 
6. Leonidas and the Spartans at Thermopylae. 7. Nathan Hale's 
capture and death. 8. The Spanish Armada. 9. Guy Fawkes 
and his conspiracy. 10. The story of Marcus Curtius. 11. Dick 
Whittington. 

All these subjects have been selected because they naturally sug- 
gest to your mind one vivid and dramatic picture toward the end, 
so that you can take as a model the story of Gilbert a Becket. 
After you have studied the facts of each story, sec if a picture does 
not rise before you of the most exciting or characteristic moment 



NARRATION 191 

of the action. Then try to make this picture real to your reader 
by the best and most spirited description you can write. Put 
yourself in the place of the persons of the incident you are 
relating, and try to see the scene and feel what naturally would 
move you. 

Exercise 122. — Re-tell the following well-known stories, select- 
ing two or three incidents for particularly detailed and care- 
ful treatment. Choose those that appeal to you as affording a good 
chance either for animated dialogue, which is an excellent means 
of making a scene lifelike, or for description which shall make 
the persons and action seem more real. Never put in any descrip- 
tion for its own sake, — only so much as will help to interest your 
reader and make him feel and see the incidents of your story. In 
these stories, taken from well-known poems, be careful not to let 
yourself be influenced by the words of the poem. Think of the 
story as apart from its poetic expression, and write it in your 
own language. 

1. Ulysses and the Cyclops. 2. Ulysses and the Sirens. 
3. Ulysses's arrival at home. 4. Iphigenia. 5. The Pied Piper of 
Hamlin. 6. The story of the wooden horse in the siege of Troy. 
7. Jason and the Golden Fleece. 8. The story of Pegasus and 
Bellerophon. 9. The One-Hoss Shay. 10. The Falcon. 11. 
John Gilpin's Hide. 12. Paul Revere's Ride. 13. Yussouf 
(James Russell Lowell) . 14. Herve Riel (Browning) . 15. A story 
from the Bible, such as that of David and Goliath. 

75. Fictitious Stories. — In writing on the subjects 
of the preceding lesson you have been using material 
furnished you by history or by poetry. The final step 
in story writing is often considered to be the invention 
of the material from which you weave your tale ; but, 
as a matter of fact, few writers actually invent their 
material. What is usually meant by " invention " in 
story telling is power to see the story which lies in the 
events of every day. A small incident, if you interest 



192 ELEMENTARY COMPOSITION 

yourself in it, will be of interest to a reader. Once 
when John Burroughs was fishing on a lake, a mouse 
ran up his oar into the boat, sat there for a few mo- 
ments, and then swam back to shore. You could 
scarcely imagine a less exciting adventure, and yet see 
what a charming little narrative he has made of it, 
making you almost feel that you have held the gentle 
little creature in your hand, and arousing so much 
sympathy for it in your mind that you are genuinely 
glad to think it was able to return safely to land : — 

I met one of these mice in my travels one day under 
peculiar conditions. He was on his travels also, and we 
met in the middle of a mountain lake. I was casting my 
fly there, when I saw, just sketched or etched upon the 
glassy surface, a delicate V-shaped figure, the point of which 
reached about to the middle of the lake, while the two sides, 
as they diverged, faded out toward the shore. I saw the 
point of this V was being slowly pushed across the lake. 
I drew near in my boat, and beheld a little mouse swimming 
vigorously for the opposite shore. His little legs appeared 
like swiftly revolving wheels beneath him. As I came 
near, he dived under the water to escape me, but came up 
again like a cork and just as quickly. It was laughable 
to see him repeatedly duck beneath the surface and pop 
back again in a twinkling. He could not keep under water 
more than a second or two. Presently I reached him my 
oar, when he ran up it and into the palm of my hand, where 
he sat for some time and arranged his fur and warmed him- 
self. He did not show the slightest fear. It was probably 
the first time he had ever shaken hands with a human being. 
He had doubtless lived all his life in the woods, and was 
strangely unsophisticated. How his little round eyes did 



NABBATION 193 

shine, and how he sniffed me to find out if I was more 
dangerous than I appeared to his sight ! 

After a while I put him down in the bottom of the boat 
and resumed my fishing. But it was not long before he 
became very restless, and evidently wanted to go about his 
business. He would climb up to the edge of the boat and 
peer down into the water. Finally he could brook the delay 
no longer and plunged boldly overboard; but he had either 
changed his mind or lost his reckoning, for he started back 
in the direction from which he had come, and the last I saw 
of him was a mere speck vanishing in the shadows near the 
shore. — John Burroughs : Squirrels and Other Fur-Bearing 
A nimals. 

Exercise 123. — Following this model, tell any incident, either 
real or invented, suggested by the following subjects : — 

1. Our cat and the dry leaves. 2. Our canary bird and the 
thunderstorm. 3. The butcher and the sick dog. 4. The tired 
street-car conductor and the lame man. 5. The mother and child 
and the little beggar. 6. How a horse got rid of his halter. 
7. The hen and the duck eggs. 8. The elevator boy, the irri- 
table man, and the soft answer. 9. The teacher's watch left in the 
class room and the janitor's little boy. 10. How I lost my belief 
in Santa Claus, in fairies. 11. A queer idea I had when I was 
younger, — e. g. that the North Pole is an actual pole sticking 
out from the ground, etc. 

76. The Beginning. — The beginning of a story is a 
very important part of it, for the average reader will not 
go on with a story which does not interest him at once. 
It is therefore better, as a rule, to begin, not with an in- 
troduction, as in historical stories, but with some phrase 
or sentence that belongs in the action. Then, after you 
have caught your reader's attention, you can, in a later 
paragraph, give briefly what explanation is needed. 



194 ELEMENTARY COMPOSITION 

The beginnings of several excellent stories are given 
here to show you how they commence without any sort 
of introduction. 

[Edgar Allan Poe's Descent into the Maelstrom.'] " We 
had now reached the summit of the loftiest crag. For 
some minutes the old man seemed too much exhausted to 
speak." 

[Octave Thanet's The Sheriff.'] " Sheriff Wickliff leaned 
out of his office window, the better to watch the boy soldiers 
march down the street." 

[Louisa M. Alcott's Jack and JUL] " ' Clear the track ' was 
the general cry on a bright December afternoon, when all the 
boys and girls of Harmony Village were out enjoying the 
first good snow of the season." 

Exercise 124. — Sometimes the beginning is so full of meaning 
that you can almost construct the whole story from it. See if 
you can finish the stories begun below : — 

1. Waking np with a start, he was very much amazed to find 
himself under the counter and not at home in bed. A little moon- 
light coming in the grocery window showed him where he was, 
and he remembered that he had lain down for a moment's nap, 
just as the clerks were closing the doors. Probably no one had 
noticed the little errand boy, tired out with his long day's work 
and with a long evening before spent over his books. Suddenly 
he noticed that the room was growing lighter, and saw a little 
tongue of flame shoot up from the floor near him. 

2. Jack pulled his hand out of his pocket with a cry of alarm. 
" Why I've lost my purse and my railway ticket home ! " he said, 
" and I don't know a soul in the city. What shall I do ! " As he 
spoke, he noticed a man step out of a store and try to put up the 
awning over the door. The rope caught on a nail, and without 
seeing what was the trouble the man jerked impatiently but use- 
lessly. Jack had been brought up to help people out if he could. 



NARRATION 195 

^ I think I can do that," he said pleasantly, stepping forward. 
The man stopped and looked at him curiously. 

3. The mast broke with a loud report and the sail blew over- 
board in a breath. The two boys looked at each other with pale 
faces. " If this wind keeps up, it looks as though we never should 
get back to shore," said George, looking about him despairingly. 

4. When Oliver Whiting realized that he had lived with the 
Indians for five years, it always surprised him. The time had 
slipped by very rapidly since that exciting night of the raid on the 
Puritan settlement, when he had been carried off from his 
master's house. He had really been happier in the lazy Indian 
life than in the busy, active, hard-working household of the 
Puritan farmer. As he lay on the grass one summer evening, listen- 
ing to the river and watching the stars shine, he reflected that if 
he could, he would not choose to go away from his kindly Indian 
captors. A low call made him turn his head, and there, within a 
few feet of him, stood his old master, Fear-God Elliott. 

5. " Run Johnnie, or the tree will strike you," shouted Mr. 
Edwards to his ten -year-old son, pushing him out of the way. 
The great tree came crashing down. The child was safe, but the 
man lay groaning with pain, both legs pinned down by the 
terrible, crushing weight. 

" Johnnie, do you suppose you can find your way five miles to 
Neighbor Ashley's clearing ? " said the man, compressing his pale 
lips to keep back a shriek of pain. " If you lose yourself, you'll 
starve to death and so shall I, but there's no other way to save us 
both." 

6. Mary Ellen was thinking of nothing more exciting than her 
arithmetic lesson, as she looked absently through the open door 
into the long empty hall of the school building. What she saw 
there made her catch her breath in horror, but her presence of 
mind came instantly to her rescue. If she screamed " Fire ! Fire ! " 
there would be a panic. What could she do ? All at once a bright 
idea struck her. 

In beginning a story of your own, you should take 
any one of these beginnings as model. You will notice 



196 ELEMENTARY COMPOSITION 

that each of them lets you know at once three main 
points — the principal character, the place of the action, 
and the general conditions. It is very important to do 
this, and, as you notice, these facts can be brought in 
without stating them definitely and tediously. For in- 
stance, the first story given might have begun, " Haoy 
was an errand boy in a grocer's shop. He was poor 
and had to work hard all day, but he was ambitious, 
and kept up his studies in the evening. One night he 
went to sleep under the counter. When he woke up, 
he saw a tongue of flame darting up from the floor." 
Do you see how much better the first way of telling 
you all this about Harry is than the second ? 

77. The Ending. — The end of a story is also very 
important. It should contain the point. This is some- 
times the explanation of the action, sometimes the 
summing up of the spirit of the tale, but in any case 
it is brief and lively. 

Exercise 125 — See if you can write the stories that go before 
the endings given below : — 

1. I was trembling with terror as the apparition drew nearer, 
and little Pollie was shaking so she could hardly stand. All at 
once she burst out in a loud fit of laughter, pointing through the 
dusk at the white spirit of our fears. " Why, aren't we silly ! " 
she cried. "It's no ghost at all, — only our own old white cow." 

2. Pauline had just given up trying to control the maddened 
horse, when out of a house ahead of them dashed a man with a 
long rope. Coiling this, he threw it deftly around the horse's neck 
as it plunged by, and, instantly dropping it about a fence post, he 
brought the animal to a dead stop so quickly that Pauline was 
thrown out of the wagon. She was 1111 hurt, however, and the man. 
who ran to pick her up, exclaimed when he saw who she was. 



N AERATION 197 

" Well, perhaps you'll take my advice about horses the next 
time," he said laughingly. 

3. I splashed wildly, I kicked up a tremendous foam with my 
feet, I panted and spluttered like a porpoise; but, looking over 
my shoulder, I saw I had passed the line of the old oak tree. The 
deed was done, — very badly it might be, but none the less actually 
the accomplishment was mine. I had learned to swim at last ! 

78. The Body. — You have now studied the beginning 
and the end of a story. The middle part is the easiest 
of all. You may have learned enough geometry to know 
that a straight line is the shortest distance between two 
points. A good story is the shortest distance between a 
good beginning and a good ending. By that you are not 
to understand actually the shortest statement you can 
make of the facts involved, but the shortest treatment 
of your theme which still slights none of the features 
necessary to make your ending most effective. Fix 
your mental eye on your ending, and write your story 
to make that most full of meaning. For instance, the 
first of the three endings given above would lose most 
of its value if you did not, in writing the story, describe 
the lonely house at twilight,, the two dreadfully fright- 
ened children, and the shapeless white mass looming up 
through the dusk. Their relief at finding it to be only 
a cow is neither amusing nor even interesting unless 
you have shown by a lively description how terribly 
alarmed they were. In the same way the last ending 
must be preceded by a humorous account of the great 
difficulty a boy had in learning to swim. His joy at 
finding he could make a little headway is only of inter- 
est because it comes as a contrast to former discourage- 
ment. 



198 ELEMENTARY COMPOSITION 

Exercise 126. — Write a story suggested by any of the follow- 
ing titles or phrases : — 

1. The first time I was badly frightened. 2. The thing I am 
proudest of having done. 3. My runaway. 4. How the bird's 
nest was saved from the snake. 5. When the elephant broke loose 
from the circus. 6. How the fox got the honeycomb away from 
the bear by saying it was bad for his health. 7. What I did when 
our house caught on fire. 8. How our cat got out of the barn when 
she was shut in. 9. Why I got to the train late. 10. How the 
children lost in the woods kept house in the cave. 11. What 
would happen if the statues in our school building could come to 
life. 12. If the pictures could come to life. 13. Christopher 
Columbus revisits America. 14. An interesting dream I once 
had. 15. At this, the Queen of the Fairies touched Hans with her 
wand. " Oh," he cried, " I'll never put off doing anything again." 
16. The old sailor gave a little shiver of recollection. " Well, I 
hope you'll never be in such a place, sonny," he said to the little 
boy. 17. The poor old man looked at the kind young lady very 
intently. " Weren't you in Archester one summer ? " he asked. 
" Why, you must be old Farmer Norton, to whom I owe such a lot 
of money," she cried. " I never could find you to pay it back." 



CHAPTER XIII 
EXPOSITION 

79. General Principles. — There is perhaps no other 
form of composition which is so generally in use as 
exposition or explanation. If you observe your own con- 
versation and that of the people about you, you will find 
that a great deal of it is explanation. Every time you 
say in answer to some question about a remark you 
have just made, " Why, I mean that — ," you are ex- 
plaining the first remark. In almost all the recitations 
you make in school you are explaining something — a 
principle in arithmetic, or in physics, the construction 
of something in manual training, the meaning of a word, 
etc. The object of your explanation is to make the 
person whom you address understand the nature of 
your subject. There are a number of devices for doing 
this, which will be treated in this chapter, but you are 
never to forget that your aim is simply to make some 
one clearly understand what was not plain to him 
before. 

In description you were told that knowledge of your 
subject was the most necessary element. This is so 
true of exposition that only the briefest mention of that 
necessity is enough to show you its great importance. 
It might be possible to describe something and give a 
fair notion of it, without knowing it thoroughly your- 

199 



200 ELEMENTARY COMPOSITION 

self ; but this is out of the question in explanation. If 
you do not entirely and completely understand what 
you are talking about, you certainly cannot explain it 
to any one else. One of the great advantages of writ- 
ing explanations is that you are forced to think accu- 
rately as well as to express yourself clearly. 

The next thing in explanation is a consideration of 
the people for whom you are writing. In the diary you 
write to yourself; in a letter you address one person, 
whom you usually know well; in narration and descrip- 
tion, you write for persons about whom you can know 
very little. In exposition you come back again to a 
set of readers about whom you have some definite in- 
formation. They may be different from each other in 
a great many ways, but in one respect they are alike — 
they do not understand the thing you are explaining, 
or at least they do not understand it as clearly as you 
do, for if they did, they would not be reading your ex- 
position. This may appear self-evident, but it is a very 
important matter. You are apt to forget what should 
be constantly in your mind, that the entire value of 
your explanation lies in making something clear to a 
person who has not before understood it. In literary 
description your aim was to make your reader see the 
picture you saw. In exposition your aim is always and 
forever to make him understand, and no matter how 
well written, your explanation is a failure if he does 
not understand. You will often find it difficult to 
realize that some people know nothing whatever of 
some process or principle with which you are very fa- 
miliar, and a good device is to imagine that you are 



EXPOSITION 201 

addressing your explanation to a foreigner ignorant of 
our life, or to some one younger than you. Put your- 
self in the place of such a person, and see if your 
remarks are sufficiently clear and full to be a complete 
explanation. 

There are two great divisions of exposition — the 
explanation of a material process or thing, and the 
explanation of an abstract idea. The first is very much 
easier and will be taken up first. 

80. Explanation of a Material Process. — There is 
a strange resemblance between the explanation of a 
material process and telling a story. This will be made 
more clear by an example. A well-written cookbook, 
or manual of handwork, employs constantly this sim- 
plest, plainest form of exposition. 

To broil a steak. Light the oven burners at least five 
minutes before the time for broiling. Allow twelve to fif- 
teen minutes for a steak an inch and a half thick. When 
the rack and the pan are hot, place the steak on the rack and 
put it as near the flames as possible without having it touch. 
As soon as it is seared and brown on one side, turn, and sear 
and brown on the other. Now turn again. Remove the 
rack three or four slides down, but do not reduce the heat. 
Cook for five minutes. Turn the steak and broil for five 
minutes longer, and it is ready to season and serve. 

You may not see any connection between these 
straightforward and plain instructions for broiling a 
steak and a story ; but if you examine them, you will 
see that they are the story of the process, and that the 
explanation relates from first to last all the things 



202 EL EM EN TA E 7 < (IMPOSITION 

thai were done by some one who cooked a steak in 
rtlv the right way. This resemblance is mentioned 
because it shows you that clear statement of events in 
their righl order is as necessary in this sort of exposi- 
tion as in story telling. Every one who writes good 
instructions for going through some process, either 
consciously or unconsciously imagines himself doing 
what he explains. In the above example, the writer 
has imagined herself broiling a steak, and has set down, 
Btep by step, everything she does. This is a very good 
plan to follow. You will find that it simplifies any 
difficulty in your mind, when you are a little confused 
as to what comes next, if you will ask yourself, "If I 
were actually doing this, what would be the very next 
thing I should do ? " 

Remember that your reader is ignorant of the process, 
and do not forgel any details that must be cared for, or 
there will be a gap in your directions over which he 
cannot cross. I Fse the simplest, plainest terms possible, 
and do not fear to be loo minute. You will have a 
tendency to forget some necessary instruction rather 
than to add one that is not needed. 

It is often well to make a broad statement of general 
conditions first, before going on to detailed instructions. 
For instance, suppose yon are writing to a boy who 
I until now lived in the South, in order to tell 
him h<»w to make a snow man. Before you begin to 
tell him about Btarting with a small ball and rolling it 

>ul till n grows large, yon Bhould say that he should 
to make a Bnow man only when the snow is some- 
what damp, for no matter how clear your instructions 



EXPOSITION 203 

are, he can accomplish nothing by following them if the 
snow be dry and powdery. 

Exercise 127. — Write an explanation of the following processes, 
as if to a person wholly ignorant of them : — 

1. How to make a dam in a brook ; to make a snow man ; a 
snow fort (with blocks pressed into shape in boxes) ; to set np a 
tent ; to irrigate a garden ; to hang wall paper ; to teach a pet 
animal tricks ; to build a fire out of doors. 

2. How to make cocoa, soup, bread, butter, cheese, cake, custard. 

3. How to grow flowers indoors ; in a hot bed. How to plant 
and grow lettuce, tomatoes, tobacco, corn, mushrooms, celery, 
nasturtiums, crocuses, potatoes. 

4. How to harness a horse. How to get a trunk from your 
house to your cousin's in another town. How to develop an ex- 
posed photographic plate. 

Probably you have been able to treat the subjects 
above directly from your own experience or observation. 
In the following subjects you will probably need to 
consult some books, but be careful not simply to repeat 
their language. Look up the subject, inform yourself 
of all necessary details of manufacture or use, and then 
write an exposition (as if to some one younger than 
yourself), explaining any terms that would be new to 
him and stating the facts in the simplest, plainest way. 

Exercise 128. — Write as if in answer to any one of the follow- 
ing questions from a child : — 

1. How are bricks made? paper? glass? ink? iron? steel? 
gold leaf ? shingles? baseballs? hairbrushes? mirrors? 

2. Why are fishhooks made in the form they are ? saws ? wheels ? 

3. Why does an ice house keep the ice from melting ? 

4. How does a water wheel work? a windmill? a well 
sweep? scissors? Why does a chimney " draw " ? What makes 
popcorn pop ? 



21 » I EL EM A' A TA U Y COMPOSITION 

Exercise 129.— I. Explain, with a diagram or drawing, the 
inn hanism of the following objects. Letter or number the differ- 
enl parte of your diagram, and refer to them in that way. Plan 
your exposition as it trying to make the matter clear to a younger 
brother or Bister. 

A pump, lamp, candle, stove, furnace, cistern, switches on a 
railroad track, city waterworks, refrigerator, ice-cream freezer, 
silo, limekiln. 

• II. Explain how a book is bound; how a horse is harnessed ; 
bow windows are hung; what makes a window shade go up when 
you pull the string; how thread is sjpun and cloth woven; how 
ground into flour; how salt is obtained. 

III. Give insl ructions (using, if necessary, a lettered diagram) : 
for making a snare for rabbits; a mouse trap; a bear trap; a • 
mole trap; ;i box; a basket; a bow and arrow; a needlebook ; 
B cover for a book ; a kite; a baseball diamond ; a tennis court; a 
doll's hat; a springboard; a picture frame ; a toboggan slide ; a 
hasty shelter of boughs for camping; a doll's dress (with pattern). 

81. Explanation of Games. — One form of exposition 
which you have often used is the explanation of games 
and contests; and you have probably suffered from 
having other people give you imperfect and confused 
directions for playing a game unfamiliar to you, find- 
ing at some critical time in the contest that a detail 
or rule has been forgotten. 

The following is an exposition of a game which will 
almosi certainly be unfamiliar to you, but which is a 
1 favorite in Spain: — 

ba is an old Basque game, resembling hand ball, 

which of late years has come greatly into fashion in Spain. 

to professionals, and it is said that none can 

continue it more than three or four years. rely does it 

• itlltloll. 



EXPOSITION 205 

Pelota is played in large glass-roofed buildings, one side 
of which, is devoted in all its breadth to the asphalt court. 
The side wall of the court at Madrid is 175 feet long and 
the end walls are 50 feet broad and 40 feet high. 

The wall fencing the players has a rib of metal along it, 
about a yard from the pavement, and another near the top, 
which limit of height is carried along the longitudinal wall 
opposite the spectators. 

A ball is only in play when it hits the first wall between 
these lines or the long wall below the prescribed limit. 
The court is marked off by lines at regular distances of about 
four yards. The spaces from four to seven are important, 
for the ball when first played must drop from the wall 
between these two spaces. 

The ball, which weighs about four ounces, is thrown 
from a basket-work gauntlet or cesta, with a leather glove 
attached for fastening to the hand, and during a game I 
have seen the ball sent with such terrific force that it has 
rebounded from the wall at one end of the court against 
that at the other. There are usually four players, two on 
each side, and the aim of the players is to cause the ball to 
rebound from the wall into so remote or unexpected a place 
in the court that it will be impossible for their opponents 
to reach it in time to return it again to the wall. The time 
that the ball is in play, that is, the time that both sides are 
successful in keeping the ball in motion, is called a " rally." 
There are frequently, between good players, rallies of six- 
teen strokes or more. During a match game of fifty up, the 
players will wear their shoes right through. 

Pelota is popular in most Spanish towns and villages, and 
one frequently sees notices on church walls to the effect 
that it is forbidden to play pelota against them. — E. Main : 
Cities and Sights of Spain. 



EL EM E N TA E Y COMPOSITION 

Aiv there any questions that you would like to ask 
about pelota after reading this explanation? Do you 
feel thai jrou would need to know more about it before 

in- to play? If so, remember to make your own 
treatmenl of the following subjects complete enough to 
Batisfy a child in the Philippines, who knows no more 
about marbles than you do about pelota. 

Exercise 130. — Tell how to play baseball; football; checkers; 
dominoes; basket ball; marbles; tag; hide-and-seek; drop the 
handkerchief; any game peculiar to your neighborhood. Ex- 
plain how a field-day is conducted. What is a handicap? How 
do little girls play keep house? "What do you mean by "playing 
Indians " ? 

Exercise 131. — T. Following the model below, give good instruc- 
tions for learning how to swim, to sail a boat, to ride a bicycle, 
to drive, to shoot a rifle, a revolver, to fish, to run a sewing machine, 
to ] 'addle a canoe, to ride horseback, to go on snowshoes. 

I ;i diagram, if necessary, and give all the information you 
yourself would like to have in beginning a new process, mentioning 
mistakes usually math' by beginners and telling how to avoid them. 

II. Tell as well as you can how to bandage a cut, how to treat 
a burn, liow to make ;i road, how to lav asphalt, brick, or macadam 
ments, liow to Bhoe a horse. 

The first thing in learning to skate is to be sure that 

are properly attached to your foot. If you 

ten them on with straps, do not pull the buckle too tight, 

this stops the circulation of the blood and may end in 

; if by Clamps, see that they are very firmly 

i. or the Bkate may be wrenched off in some sudden 

moi .mi n fall. Also be sure that the blades 

v hard to Bkate with dull blades. After 

ttended to these matters, one of the best ways to 

to skate with someone who is strong enough to hold 



EXPOSITION 207 

you up, or if you cannot arrange this, to push a chair in front 
of you, until you have confidence enough to go alone. 

The feet are placed at right angles to each other with the 
toes turned out and the body bent slightly forward. Each 
foot is then raised alternately and set down slightly on the 
inside edge. It slides forward of its own accord and this 
motion is increased by pushing on the other foot, which is 
at right angles to your forward movement and so does not 
slide. You should keep your feet perfectly level when 
raised and set down, turning the forward foot a little on the 
outer edge as it slides, and keeping the other foot turned to 
the inside edge. A great help in keeping your balance is to 
swing your arms across your chest, with each forward slide, 
to the opposite side from the foot which is advancing. 
Never look at your feet, as it is almost impossible to keep 
your balance when doing so. Look straight in front of you 
at a spot about level with your eyes. 

There are various ways of stopping yourself. One is to 
dig the heel of your skate in the ice and turn the other foot 
sidewise. Another is to direct your course around a circle 
and to stop your forward pushing ; but perhaps the best way 
is to turn your toes in, thus putting the line of your skate 
across the direction of your forward movement. 

Try to take as long strokes as possible and not to use the 
right leg more than the left, keeping your stroke steady and 
even. Always lean a little forward in ordinary skating and 
far forward if you wish to go fast. 

It is a good thing for beginners to force themselves to 
turn the advancing foot on the outer edge of the skate. It 
is a little more difficult to keep your balance in this way, 
but if once you become fixed in the habit of using the inner 
edge only, you will never be able to do any fancy or figure 
skating. 



EL EM EN l\ 1 B 7 COMPOSITION 

82. Exposition of Abstract Ideas.— All the exercises in 
explanation you have had thus far have been with regard 
bo simple, material things, that is, things you can touch or 

There are, however, very many subjects which need 
clear and accurate explanation, but which deal with ab- 
Btracl ideas, with principles, or with emotions. These 
are much harder to write of than material things, 
largely because it is harder to think of them quite clearly 
in your own mind. This is not because you do not 
have all the information you need, but because you 
have never tried to think out clearly and analyze the 
knowledge that you have. For instance, if some one 
should ask you, What is cheerfulness ? although you 
would feel that you knew perfectly well what that 
quality is, you might have some difficulty in expressing it. 

83. Exposition by Example. — There are many ways 
to bring out the meaning of an abstract term. One good 
device is the use of examples. If it is some one in your 
family who asks you the question, you can give at once 

ood idea of what cheerfulness is by saying, " Aunt 
Kate is a cheerful person." But if you are speaking to 
Borne one who docs not know your Aunt Kate, you must 
then pieced to describe the quality in her which you 
call cheerfulness. You will find this use of example 
a \rvy convenient method of exposition. 

Another device is comparison with something that is 

tilarbul not quite the same, [n explaining the exact 

difference between the two you define the subject of 

your exposition. For instance, suppose von are asked 

bj a child to explain the meaning of parsimony. You 



EXPOSITION 209 

can take a word which he knows, like saving or economy, 
and by showing the difference between the two, you can 
give him a clear notion of the meaning, explaining that 
economy is wise and reasonable saving of expense, and 
parsimony is foolish and exaggerated saving. The fol- 
lowing paragraph shows the use of this method, the 
author comparing cheerfulness to mirth. 

I have always preferred cheerfulness to mirth. The 
latter I consider as an act, the former as a habit of the mind. 
Mirth is short and transient, cheerfulness fixed and perma- 
nent. Those are often raised into the greatest transports 
of mirth who are subject to the greatest depressions of mel- 
ancholy. On the contrary, cheerfulness, though it does not 
give the mind such an exquisite gladness, prevents us from 
falling into any depths of sorrow. Mirth is like a flash of 
lightning that breaks through a gloom of clouds and glit- 
ters for a moment. Cheerfulness keeps up a kind of day- 
light in the mind and fills it with a steady and perpetual 
serenity. — Joseph Addisox : The Spectator. 

Exercise 132. — Using this device of comparison, and adding to 
it examples, try to explain the following subjects : — 

1. Courage. Compare with rashness or foolhardiness, using as 
example the character of Hobson as compared with that of a man 
who goes over the Xiagara Falls in a barrel. 

2. Joy. Compare with contentment, using as example a mother 
perfectly contented with her home and children, who is suddenly 
overjoyed by a heroic deed of a son. 

3. Perseverance. Compare with obstinacy, using as examples 
a hen sitting patiently till her chicks are hatched out ; and another 
sitting week after week on china eggs. 

4. Extravagance. Compare with liberality, using as example 
a man who gives away so much to strangers that he has not enough 
left to care for his family. 

p 



2 1 1 > EL EMEN TA R 7 COMPOSITION 

:». [ndustry. Compare with drudgery, using as examples a man 
wh<> carries Btone for road-mending, and the military i)imishment 
of making an offender curry stones from one side of the road to 
another. 

84. Exposition by Repetition. — Another good method 
of explaining an abstract idea is to repeat in several 
different ways your first statement or definition. First, 
you define your subject as accurately as possible, by 
telling to what kind or order of thing it belongs, and 
then by pointing out differences between this individual 

imple and others of the same kind. For instance, 
you arc asked by a child to define a snob. First, you 
give some general idea of the meaning of the term by 
saying, " A snob is a vulgar person with bad manners." 
But there arc vulgar persons with bad manners who 
who arc not in the least snobs, so that after stating the 

neral order of the persons to which a snob belongs, 

you must separate him from all other varieties of that 

You go on, therefore, " He pays a foolish and 

rated respect to social position and money, and 

cannot understand that a noble character has any value 

in a poor or uncultivated person/' 

You have now given a general definition of your sub- 
t, a i a I one good way to proceed with your explana- 
tion is, a- stated above, by means of repetition in other 
Is of your first statement, thus: — 

nob values the opinion of an ignorant rich per- 

more than that of an intelligent poor one. He is fawning 

;l1 " 1 bo influential men, and rude and over- 

who have no recognized position. A snob 

*iH nm hat in hand to open a door for a wealthy woman 



EXPOSITION 211 

of rank, and will not give a helping hand to a poor woman 
who has fallen down. 

This sort of repetition serves to make perfectly clear 
the idea involved in your first statement. 

85. Exposition by Contrast. — A further device in 
explanation is contrast, showing the ways in which the 
subject of your exposition differs from its opposite. 
The explanation of the snob might be continued by 
contrasting him with a perfect gentleman, thus bring- 
ing out more clearly the offensive qualities. Or, you 
might go back to the sort of comparison you used in 
explaining courage, perseverance, etc., and compare the 
snob to a person thoroughly rude, a boor, showing how 
he differs : the snob is rude only to people who, he 
thinks, have no means of punishing him for it ; whereas 
a boor is rude to every one. 

Exercise 133. — 1. Bearing in mind these two new methods for 
explanation (repetition and contrast), as well as the methods pre- 
viously explained (comparison and examples), explain the use 
and value of the study of geography, arithmetic, history, manual 
training, music, drawing, gymnashim work, military drill, sewing, 
reading aloud, spelling, a foreign language. 

2. Explain (as if to a boy or girl younger than you, who asks, 
"What is it for?") the purpose and value of the following: — 

A debating society ; a literary club ; a nature study club ; a 
" Do as you would be done by " association ; amateur theatricals ; 
athletic contests ; an aquarium ; zoological gardens ; city parks ; 
public libraries ; foreign travel ; picture galleries. 

86. Exposition by a Figure of Speech. — One of the 
most forcible and graceful means of exposition is by 
the development of a figure of speech, — a simile or 
metaphor. 



2 1 2 EE KM /:.V l\ IRY ( (IMPOSITION 

I consider the human soul without education like marble 
in the quarry, which shows none of its inherent beauties 
until the skill of the polisher fetches out the colors, makes 
the surface shine, and discovers every ornamental cloud, spot, 
and vein that runs through the body of it. Education, after 
the same manner, when it works upon a noble mind, draws 
nut to view every latent virtue and perfection, which with- 
out Mich helps are never able to make their appearance. . . . 
itotle tells us that a statue lies hid in a block of marble, 
and that the art of the statuary only clears away superfluous 
matter and removes the rubbish. The figure is in the stone; 
the sculptor only rinds it. What sculpture is to a block of 
marble, education is to a human soul. The philosopher, the 

at, the hero, the wise, the good, or the great man, very 

■n lie hid and concealed in a plebeian, which a proper 
education might have disinterred and brought to light. 

JOSEPB Addison: The Spectator. 

Exercise 134. — 1. Proverbs are really only figures of speech, and 
explanation of these should be based to some degree on the model 
above. Try to explain fully, as if to your younger brother or 
sister, the true meaning of any of the following expressions, using 
all the for exposition which you have been studying. 

Think carefully before you begin to write and make sure that you 
full. the real meaning. You will find examples and 

- illustrating your point particularly useful in this sort of 

mat inn. 

I- A. bird in the hand is worth two in the bush. 2. Don't count 

your chickens before they are batched. 3. A rolling- stone gathers 

no moss. 1. The more haste the less speed. 5. Birds of a feather 

Better an empty house than a had tenant. 

bay while the bud shines. 8. Enough is as good as a 

'■'■ A burned child dreads the fire. LO. Strike while the 

Iron '^ boi LI, He laughs best who laughs last. 12. He that 

ihould not throw .stones. 1:;. Necessity is 

tli'- in.-! ber of invention. 



EXPOSITION 213 

II. Expound in the same way the following quotations, as if 
you were trying to give a full realization of all that they mean to 
some one who sees them for the first time and does not quite 
understand them : — 

1. Sweet are the uses of adversity. — Shakspere. 

2. He who loses wealth loses much ; he who loses a friend loses 
more; but he who loses his courage loses all. — Cervantes. 

3. He who knows most, grieves most for wasted time. — Dante. 

4. The wicked flee when no man pursueth. 

5. A soft answer turneth away wrath. 

6. A good name is rather to be chosen than great riches. 

7. Books are the best things well used; abused, among the 
worst. — Emerson. 

8. Charity is a virtue of the heart, not of the hands. 

Exercise 135. — I. Try to explain what Washington's Birthday 
means to us ; St. Valentine's Day ; April Fool's Day ; Commence- 
ment Day at a school; Arbor Day; Thanksgiving Day; Christ- 
mas ; New Year's ; Labor Day ; Fourth of July ; Decoration Day. 
An exposition of this sort may be very straightforward and simple, 
only a paragraph long, or it may be as elaborate a composition as 
you can make it; but in either case you should try to express 
sincerely the deep feeling which underlies most of these festivals. 
Choose some favorite of yours in the above list and try to express 
why you are fond of it and impressed by it. 

II. Following the same method, look up the facts in regard to 
some foreign customs, and write an explanation of what you im- 
agine to be the feeling underlying All Souls' Day in Paris; the 
pilgrimage to Mecca of the Mohammedans ; the pilgrimage in India 
to the Ganges ; cherry-blossoming time in Japan ; Primrose Day in 
England ; the Fourteenth of July in France ; and other festivals 
of which you can learn. 



CHAPTER XIV 
ARGUMENT 

87. General Principle. — There is probably no form 
of expression with which you are more practically 
acquainted than argumentation, both from using it 
yourself and from haying it employed on you. If you 
to college, you will study the theory of it in connec- 
tion with logic and you will have a great many hard 
names to learn and a complicated system to understand ; 
but, as a matter of fact, you find now that if you greatly 
care to have something done or not done, you will in- 
stinctively find reasons for supporting your views. You 
did this even as a little child, when you wished to do 
something your parents did not think advisable, or to 
he excused from doing something they desired you to 
do. Although this may be the first time you have con- 

ously thought of argument as a form of composition, 
you must have had a great deal of practical experience 
in it. 

it has been pointed out several times in this book 
thai the very first thing to consider in any form of ex- 
pression is the reader to whom you address yourself. 
Owing to tie- frequent practical use you have made of 
umenl in conversation, this will be easy for you to 
remember when you now come to write it. That is, 
you are bo used to making your arguments suit the per- 



ARGUMENT 215 

sons you are trying to persuade, that you do it instinc- 
tively. Even a little child puts forth different reasons 
for action when trying to persuade his mother from 
those which he would put forth when trying to per- 
suade a playfellow ; and you feel, without the neces- 
sity of stopping to think at all, that you should use 
different arguments with your mother from those 
which would be likely to convince your teacher. 

But the next step in composing, which has been men- 
tioned throughout the book, is more necessary in argu- 
mentation than in any other form of expression. You 
must not only have an outline in mind for what you are 
about to say, but that outline should be written, and 
almost as much time and thought should be given to it 
as to the composition itself; for clear thought is the 
great essential in argumentation, and a carefully pre- 
pared outline is the greatest help to clear thought. 

88. The Introduction. — There are three parts to every 
outline for a discussion or argument. First comes the 
introduction, or statement of the subject. To write this 
clearly, you need to remember the principles of exposi- 
tion, because often the introduction to an argument is 
merely a clear exposition of the subject. It is very 
necessary to be perfectly clear in this introduction, so 
that your reader may have a definite idea of what it is 
you are about to discuss. Sometimes people discuss at 
great length, only to find that from neglect to state the 
subject clearly they have been arguing about quite 
different questions. For instance, suppose that the fol- 
lowing subject is selected for a discussion : Pupils 



216 ELEMENTARY COMPOSITION 

„,,,!, r fifti i a </> ars of age should not be taken out of school 
to earn money for their families. The statement and 
full exposition of the subject in the introduction to the 
iiiiirnt .should exclude cases where there is no other 
possible source of income for the family; otherwise you 
and your opponent may be discussing a question about 
which von really agree. 

In your introduction, therefore, give first a perfectly 
plain statement of your subject, — what are the generally 
admitted Facta about it (facts which even your oppo- 
nent must admit), and what it is you wish to prove. 

Exercise 136. — In the following subjects for discussion, see if 
you can pick <>ut the place where the statement is indefinite and 
might Lead to misunderstanding. Write one paragraph on each, 
defining, Limiting, and making clear the subject as you see it, and 
• ber on the generally admitted facts in the case as distinct from 
the points which are debatable. 

1. Animals in captivity are better off than in their natural state. 

NY hat kind of captivity ? What kind of animals? Whatdoyou 
hi by being M better off" — merely "healthier" or "happier" 
or •• more Becm 

2. I boy's club should not study history. 

:i kind of boys? What kind of history? Is history taught 
in th< ' l ><» these boys go to school? 

8, [11 girls should ham to In housekeepers. 

t do you mean by "housekeeper"? Do you mean that 
M Learn nothing el 
l« B trmful for children to read fairy tales. 

(citable children who cannot sleep after 
about dreadful tales of witches and hobgob- 
lins tl the healthiest child afraid of the dark? 
nals. 
Delude noxious and dangerous ones? Or animals used 
■ 



ARGUMENT 217 

89. The Reasons. — The second part of your argu- 
ment consists of the statement of the various proofs 
and reasons you advance to make people think and feel 
as you do about your subject. It is well to divide your 
subject into several main divisions or points, and take 
these up one by one ; also to set down separately your 
main arguments. These should be arranged in what is 
called " climactic order," — that is, the more unimportant 
reasons first and the better and stronger ones after, 
leading up to the argument which you think is your 
strongest one. There are two main divisions of argu- 
ment as reasons in favor of something. First, there are 
the proofs directly for your side of the question, and 
then there are the proofs against your opponent's 
argument. The first is called direct proof; the second 
is called refutation. 

Suppose now that you wish to persuade the principal 
of your school to grant a holiday on Washington's 
Birthday. Your introduction states the subject very 
briefly, since in the nature of things there can be 
almost no possibility of misunderstanding. It might 
be well to mention here that nobody doubts the value 
of vacations in school life if wisely selected, and that 
what you wish to prove is that it would be a wise selec- 
tion to give the school a holiday on the twenty-second 
of February. 

The body of your argument comes next, and you 
might begin by stating that a holiday would be benefi- 
cial to school work. Support the statement by pointing 
out, first, that the twenty-second of February comes 
in the midst of a long stretch of uninterrupted 



EL EMEN Tu 1 fl V < IMPOSITION 

school, just at [lie time when both pupils and teachers 
tired and would do better work after a rest; 
>nd, that the weather is apt to be brisk and brac- 
ing, and such as would tempt every one to be out of 
doors. 

four next general argument might be a statement of 
the value of honoring in every way possible the great 
men of the nation, and of not allowing them to be for- 

bten. Three good reasons as proofs of this state- 
ment are, first, that w r e owe them great gratitude for 
what they have done for us; second, that they fur- 
nish the best examples for our own action ; third, that 
they make us patriotic by making us proud of our 
country. 

Having established the desirability of honoring our 
great men, your next need is to show that granting a 
holiday to school children does honor them. To prove 
this, you might make a word picture of the great 
importance which a, holiday has in a school ; how every 
<»n«- looks forward to it. plans for it, enjoys it, and remem- 
bera it, so thai it is felt that the occasion of a holiday 
must be a vcrv notable man. Show how even the little 
childrenare impressed with the greatness of Washing- 
ton's name (because of the holiday) before they know 
much aboul him, so that they are all prepared to 
realize instinctively how prominent he was in our history 
when they come to study about him. See if you can- 
Bhow how much more valuable is an instinctive 
/; ".'/ !il <<' this than any amount of mere knowledge of 

whal we owe to him, illustrating by the affection a child 
fed relative a cousin or an aunt — whom lie has 



ARGUMENT 219 

always known, compared with his affection for a 
relative whom he learns to know after he has grown up. 

A second reason to prove the advisability of grant- 
ing a holiday to honor the memory of a great man is 
based on one of the most universally acceptable of 
proofs. It is good to do a thing when other people 
do it and always have done it. This is usually one of 
the first proofs which come into your mind, as is shown 
by the fact that the average child, on being refused 
something, says immediately, " Why, all the other 
boys have it ! " So your second reason is that in our 
own country and abroad no better way has been found 
to celebrate an anniversary than to grant a holiday on 
that date. Cite Christmas, the Fourth of July, the 
Fourteenth of July in France, etc., collecting as many 
instances as you can, from all sources. This is a very 
important form of proof, although it should rarely 
be placed first in your argument. 

Now, having shown that great men should be honored, 
and that holidays are a good form of honoring them, 
you need to prove that Washington should be specially 
selected from among our great men for such honors. 
There are various reasons you might cite here, a few of 
which are that he was the greatest of the founders of 
our nation ; that his private character was noble and 
dignified ; that he was the first American to receive 
world-wide recognition ; that we might not be a nation 
without him ; that, at the present day, we need more 
than ever to look back to his integrity and devotion to 
the patriotic cause, etc. 

You have now given enough proofs to make up the 



•_' _'< i EL EM EN T. IBY COMPOSITION 

main body of your discussion. The end of an argument 
&lled the conclusion, and sums up in a brief way, but 
as forcibly as possible, the main proofs, and the way in 
which the} lead to the conclusion you desire. 

90. The Outline. — The outline of the argument which 
has just been sketched for you would be set down in a 
form something like this. 

A holiday should be granted to this school on Washington's 
Birthday. 

.1. Introduction. 

It Is taken tor granted that holidays are desirable at times; 
we are to prove in this case that the twenty-second of Feb- 
ruary is a good time for a holiday. 

/;. Proof. 

I. It would ho beneficial to school work, 

1. because the day comes at a time when a break in the 
routine is Deeded ; 

2. because it comes usually in good winter weather, when 
outdoor life is possible. 

II- '' to desirable to honor the great men of a nation, 
1. because "f our gratitude to them; 
'-'• because they set a good example to us; 

■ >. because they help as to he patriotic. 



III. 



A holiday is a suitable means for honoring the memory 

at man, 

1- because it is an important occasion for all pupils, 

and axes their attention on the reason Un- granting it ; 

-• because all over the world holidays are given and 

always have l □ given as the best way of making a 

j memorable. 



ABGTJMENT 221 

IV. Washington should be selected for this honor, 

1. because he was the founder of the nation ; 

2. because he was the first well-known American ; 

3. because he was the first president, etc. 

C. Conclusion. 

I. Summing up of the arguments. 
II. Statement of the conclusion. 

91. The Plea. — This is an outline of that form of 
argument which is sometimes called a plea; an argu- 
ment, that is, which aims to induce somebody to take 
action. 

Exercise 137. — Make out similar outlines, and write pleas, ad- 
dressed to the school authorities, on the following subjects. Take 
the side that appeals to you. 

' 1. The weekly holiday should be on Monday instead of Saturday. 
(Or " should not be," according to your convictions.) 

2. The summer vacation should be shorter, in order that the 
winter vacation might be longer. 

3. Gymnasium work, or participation in outdoor sports, should 
be compulsory for boys and girls alike. 

4. Music should not be taught in the schools. 

5. One foreign language should be compulsory in American 
public schools. 

6. All pupils, even those who have no natural taste for it, should 
be made to study good literature. 

7. Every one in the class should be forced to join a debating 
society. 

8. There should be a common school library, rather than a col- 
lection of books in each class room. 

9. It is better to have one long school session with a short recess 
than two shorter sessions with an hour or more for lunch. 

92. Other Forms. — There are a number of arguments 
which can scarcely be treated like pleas, since their 



ELEMENT All Y COMPOSITION 

object is not to induce somebody else to take some action, 
but to support the truth or justice of some statement. 

Exercise 138. — In treating the subjects given below, write as 
though von were defending the statement against an opponent. 
Or tlif subjects may be taken as topics for debate by the class, 
one half taking one side, and the other half attacking their po- 
ail ion. 

1. Tennis is a better game than golf. (Define what you mean 
by "better." Better for whom ; or for what results?) 2. City 
life is better than country life. 3. Summer (autumn, winter, 
spring) is the best time of the year. 4. The best method to pre- 
pare for a hard examination is to study hard up to the last minute 
before you take it. 5. Children of foreigners in this country should 
learn only English and not their parent language. 6. It is better 
to live oear the sea than in the mountains. 7. It is easier to do 
school work at home than in the class room. 8. Swimming is the 
besl form of exercise. 9. Little children should not be taught to 
believe in Santa Clans, in fairies, or in giants. 10. Novel reading 
has a bad influence. 11. Everyone should be forced to learn to 
dance, to swim, to sail a boat, to skate, to ride, to learn a trade, etc. 
12. Bonfires should be allowed in the street on the evenings of 
festival days of various kinds. 13. Pupils should report the wrong- 
doings of others to the teacher. 14. .Hooks should be furnished 
by public schools. 15. Composition is a more important study 
than arithmetic. 16, Alms should never be given to beggars. 
17. \o examination should be over an hour in length. 18. A 
city library is as important as city schools. 19. The climate of our 
pari of the country is more conducive to good health than the 
climate of the tropi 

Another form of argument or persuasion consists in 

finding reasons and stating them eloquently, in support 

persona] taste oropinion. The sumo general outline 

'• ( 1 as in the plea, bul the argument is apt to be less 

impersonal. 



ARGUMENT 223 

Exercise 139. — Arrange your reasons in their logical order and 
write most at length npon those which are most important. Con- 
struct your argument as though in answer to the remark, " Why do 
you feel that way? I don't agree with you at all." 

1. I had rather be a doctor (lawyer, merchant, cook, teacher, 
musician, farmer, etc.) than anything else. 2. I had rather be a 
sailor than a soldier. 3. If I were not an American, I had rather 
be English (French, German, Italian, Norwegian, Cuban, etc.) than 

anything else. 4. If I did not live here, I had rather live in 

than in any other state ; in than in any other city. 5. If I 

could always remain a certain age, I should prefer to be years 

old. 6. Of all my studies I think is the most valuable. 7. If 

I were not myself, I should prefer to be . 8. Of all the his- 
torical characters I have studied I should prefer to be . 9. The 

best book I ever read is — ■ — . 10. I like poetry better than prose. 
11. Unlike most people, I like a rainy day (a windy day, foggy 
weather) better than a fair day. 12. I had rather have a cat (a 
dog, a horse, a rabbit, etc.) than any other pet. 

Many of the above subjects can be treated in letter 
forms as pleas. This is a very good exercise in writing 
easily and familiarly upon a careful and well-constructed 
outline. For instance, you might take the abstract 
subject that every one should learn to swim. Make it 
personal and write a letter to your parents, asking to 
be allowed to learn to swim. Draw up your outline with 
no less care for a familiar letter than for a formal argu- 
ment. Take pains to try to imagine the arguments 
which would be used on the other side and bring to bear 
all the counterproof you can think of. Your parents 
would naturally be anxious about the clanger involved 
in your learning to swim. Oppose to this the ability to 
save yourself in the water all the rest of your life after you 
have learned. They may maintain that you will never 



224 ELEMENTARY COMPOSITION 

have any occasion to swim, since you do not live near 
the water. You can oppose to this the great frequency 
of journeys taken on or partly on water. They might 
think it would take too much time and strength from 
your studies. Oppose to this the fact that you must 
have exercise of some sort, that you work better after 
you have been in the water, and that your general health 
will be better, etc. 



CHAPTER XV 
SECRETARIAL WORK 

93. In nearly all schools there are several organiza- 
tions — a debating club, a current events club, an athletic 
association, a branch society for the prevention of cruelty 
to animals, etc., — and in all these organizations there 
is need of a special form of composition, called secreta- 
rial writing, because the secretary does most (although 
not all) of it. While it may seem complicated and un- 
natural at first sight because of the number of forms 
fixed by tradition for every occasion, it is really easier 
than any other writing you have been studying, since 
the very fact that the forms are fixed makes invention, 
charm, or force of style on your part unnecessary. 
Perfect and unmistakable clearness, accuracy, complete- 
ness, and an observance of certain quite rigidly fixed 
formulae are the essentials of good secretarial work. 

In the formation of an organization, the first writing 
to be done is the composition of notices (see page 130), 
sent or posted, announcing a meeting to be held for the 
purpose of forming a club. This first notice and all 
others announcing later meetings are to be written ac- 
cording to the general plan described on pages 130-132. 

At the first meeting, a chairman or president and 

a secretary are usually elected, and a committee chosen 

to draw up a constitution which shall be presented to 

the club at the next meeting. All constitutions are 

q 225 



226 EL EMENT. 1 B Y COMPOSITION 

written along the flame general lines. A good general 
model for a simple constitution will be found in the 
Appendix. The committee precedes the proposed 
constitution with a paragraph something like the 
following : — 

the Members of the Club: 

Your committee, appointed at a meeting for the organiza- 
tion of the Club, respectfully submit the follow- 
ing articles and by-laws, with the recommendation that they 
be adopted by this Club. 

During a meeting the secretary should take accurate 
and careful notes on what occurs, and as soon as possi- 
ble afterward should write his report of the proceed- 
in-- of the meeting. This report or record is called the 
" minutes of the meeting," and the reading aloud of the 
minutes is always the first business of each meeting. 

There should be no attempt made in writing the 

minutes to make them original or interesting. They 

should be perfectly accurate and complete. The con- 

I of speeches made is not reported (in ordinary 

minutes), nor are any comments made on the spirit or 

events of the meeting. A plain statement of what took 

illy is all that is desirable. 

date, and time of the meeting are set down 

"1 the name of the presiding officer. Then it is 

;ililt theminutes were read and approved. After 

thistle- official events of the meeting are set down in the 

order of ll,,ir occurrence. At the end the hour of 

:mil ' nl « aoted and the date fixed for the next 



SECRETARIAL WORK 227 

West Newton, III., 
Public School No. 3. 

The Literary Society of this school held its regular 
monthly meeting in the general assembly hall, on Febru- 
ary 3, 1906, at 2 p.m., the president, Eobert Wheeler, in 
the chair (or presiding). 

After the meeting was called to order the minutes of the 
last meeting were read by the secretary and were approved. 

The president then addressed the Society briefly upon 
the need of new books for the school library, representing 
to the members the suitability of the Literary Society's 
taking some action in the matter. 

It was moved by Miss Mary Smith that the Literary 
Society give an entertainment in order to raise, money for 
this purpose. The motion was carried by unanimous vote of 
the Society. 

The president appointed a committee, consisting of Miss 
Mary Smith, Chairman, Mr. Clark Sturgis, and Miss Helen 
Brown, to decide on the nature of the entertainment, and to 
report to the Society at its next regular meeting. 

On the motion of Mr. John Peters, it was voted that the 
Principal of the school, Miss Wheeler, should be made an 
honorary member of the Society. 

The literary programme was then carried out. Mr. Eob- 
ert Peters and Miss Ellen Camp recited a dialogue, entitled 
" After the Bunaway." 

Miss Edith Banding read an original short story called 
" The White Blackbird." 

Mr. Elbert Huntington delivered an argument in favor of 
shorter school hours and more home study. 

At 4 p.m. the meeting adjourned to meet at 2 p.m. on 
March 4, 1906. 

Peter Hackett, 
Secretary. 



ELEMENTARY COMPOSITION 

After the writing of the minutes, the next duty of 
the secretary is to see that the members of committees 
appointed are notified of that fact and are told who is 
their chairman. Some such form as the following is 
generally used : — 

Public School No. 3, 

West Newtox, III., 
February 4, 1906. 
Mi:. Qh \kk Sturgis, 
Dbab Sib,— 

At the last regular meeting of the Literary 
Society of this school, held February 3, 1906, you were 
appointed a member of the Entertainment Committee, of 
which Miss Mary Smith is chairman. 

Yours respectfully, 

Peter Hackett, 

Secretary. 

Exercise 140. — 1. Make out a constitution and by-laws for a 
debating Bociety, an athletic association, a nature study club, a 
ling club, ;t literary society, a walking club, a sewing society, 
a chess club. 

- Write minutes for the regular meeting of any one of these 

U rite letters of notifications to committees appointed at these 

1 bere are usually several permanent committees to 
wl, " ,n ularlv referred matters falling in their 

P*ovin< >me of these committees are the financial 

committee, the entertainment committee, the member- 
ship committee, the programme committee, etc. When 
tl,r club rotes thai some question be referred to one of 



SECRETARIAL WORK 229 

these committees, it is the duty of the secretary to write 
a notice of reference in some such form as this : — 

The Musical Club of the Caxton School. 
Office of the Secretary, Chicago, III., 
May 23, 1906. 
Mr. Elmer Henderson, 

Chairman of Membership Committee, 
Musical Club of the Caxton School. 
Dear Sir, — 

At the last meeting of the Musical Club, the 
question of the admission to the Club of three pupils from 
the lower grades was referred to your committee. They 
are Henry Appleton, in the Fifth Grade, Mary Monkhouse, 
in the Sixth Grade, and Parsons Latham, in the Fourth 
Grade. The respective teachers of the above-mentioned 
pupils represent them as being sufficiently advanced in the 
study of music to become useful members of our Club. 

Your committee is requested to look into the matter and 
report at the next regular meeting. 

Yours very truly, 

Helen Irving, 
Secretary. 

The answer of the committee would be as follows : — 

Chicago, III., May 28, 1906. 
To the Musical Club 

of the Caxton School : 

The Membership Committee, to whom on the 
23d day of the present month was referred the question 
of the admission to the Musical Club of three pupils from 



j; L EM EN l\ 1 B T COMPOSITION 

the lower grades, with instructions to ascertain their profi- 
iv in music, respectfully report that they have given 
due attention to the matter referred to them and find: — 

That Henry A.ppleton plays the violin well enough to 
play a second part in the quartet. 

That Mary Monkhouse has a good voice and reads music 

jhl fluently. 
That Parsons Latham is as yet too uncertain in his inas- 
tery of the flute to take a part in our Orchestra. 

Vni 1 1- committee therefore recommends that the first two 
be at i in it U'd to membership, but not the last. 

Respectfully submitted, 

For the Committee, 
Elmer Henderson, 

Chairman. 

Exercise 141. — 1. Write a notice of reference to a committee 
on entertainment, asking them to decide on a programme for the 
annual meeting. Answer as from the committee. 

2. Write a notice of reference to a committee on finance, ask- 
them to Look into the cost of renting a hall for the meeting of 
Answer. 

; W rite b aotice of reference to a committee on finance, asking 
1 l"'"' to report upon the probable cost of a set of Dickens for 
chool library. Answer. 

\ club Bometimes wishes to send a member as dele- 

1 assembly or convention of similar clubs. 

WThen he arrives at the convention, he needs something 

IlnU ' ,li;lt be baa been regularly elected a delegate, 

I him by the secretary in the 

following form : — 






SECRETARIAL WORK 231 

Columbus, Ohio, 
March 30, 1906. 
To the Thirteenth Annual Convention of 
the School Branches of the S. P. C. A.: 

This certifies that James Harrow has been 
duly elected a delegate from the Columbus S. P. C. A. to 
the Thirteenth Annual Convention of the School Branches 
of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. 

Henry Swift, 

Secretary. 

Such a letter is called " the delegate's credentials." 

All the usual duties of a secretary, so far as his writ- 
ing goes, have now been stated, but there are other 
occasions for secretarial writing and for the use of set 
and customary forms, which arise in connection with 
the duties of other officers. 

The president's report is usually annual, and is pre- 
sented to the club when he retires to make way for the 
new president. This report is less formal than other 
secretarial writing. It is supposed to present in a clear 
and condensed form a picture of the activities of the 
Club during the year. 

The treasurer should keep the club informed fre- 
quently and in detail of the state of its finances. A 
customary form for the beginning of his report is : — 

The undersigned, Treasurer of the Musical Club, respect- 
fully submits the following report for the month endiug 
May 15, 1906 : — 

The balance on hand at the beginning of the month was 
three dollars and forty cents. There has been received 



232 EL EMENTAB Y COMPOSITION 

from all sources during the month two dollars and sixty 
cents. During the month the expenses amounted to four 
dollars, leaving a balance in the treasury of two dollars. 

The annexed statement will show in detail the receipts 
and expenditures. 

Robert Harris, 

Treasurer. 

The most difficult form of secretarial writing is the 
< I rafting of preambles and resolutions. These are used 
tor many purposes: to convey the thanks of the club 
to a person who has done something for it, to express 
condolence with the family of a member who has died, 
to send good wishes to a member leaving the club on 
account of change of residence, to voice the sentiments 
of the club on some matter of public interest. 

The preamble or first part (which is not always used) 
follows iii general a fixed form, but to the composing 
of resolutions applies all that was said of the writing of 
petitions. They call for a graceful style, a good and 
melodious choice of words, and they aim to produce a 
favorable effect on the reader. 

Following is an example of a preamble and resolu- 
l ions : — 

WHEREAS tlie Reverend George S. Stirling has honored 
this Club by appearing before us and delivering an address, 
IS this club feels deeply the profit and pleasure 
aed truiii liis speech, therefore, be it 
Rbsoli ii', Thai we place on record our deep appreciation 
the honor which Mr. Stirling did us, and our convic- 
tion thai he lias profoundly influenced for the better all who 
heard him. 



SECRETARIAL WORK 233 

Be solved, That we tender to him our warmest thanks 
for consenting to address us. 

Resolved, That a copy of these resolutions be sent to 
Mr. Stirling. 

The resolutions would be sent to Mr. Stirling in a 
letter like the following : — 

Reverend George S. Stirling, 
Dear Sir, — 

At a meeting of the Club, held , 

the following resolutions were unanimously adopted : — 

Whereas, the Eeverend George S. Stirling, etc. 



George Oldham, Henry Miller, 

Secretary. President. 



CHAPTER XVI 

VERSIFICATION 

94. Poetry is the most beautiful and attractive form 
of writing, and in the highest sense is by far the most 
difficult, since it is not only complicated in form, but is 
highly emotional and stirs deeply the feelings of the 
reader. To write real poetry is, therefore, out of the 
reach of most of us, but to write verse is not so difficult 
as it is usually thought, and it is an excellent exercise in 
learning control of words. Verse making gives skill in 
manipulating language and, because of the need for 
ingenuity and flexibility in sentence construction and 
for variety in the choice of words, it helps in writing 
prose. More than this, you will find that some practice 
in managing verse-forms yourself will enable you to 
understand and admire more intelligently the poetry 
you read. 

I wander'd lonely as a cloud 

That floats on high o'er vales and hills ; 

When all at once I saw a crowd, 

A host of golden daffodils, 

Beside the lake, beneath the trees, 

Blattering and dancing in the breeze. 

What is the difference between (lie sentences in this 
extract and ordinary prose sentences? [f you read them 
over aloud, you will sec thai they are constructed on a 

284 



VERSIFICATION 235 

definite plan. You notice that, as in pronouncing aloud 
every word of more than one syllable, you accent one of 
them more than the others {pdragraph, assuming}, just 
so you accent some syllables in each line of the verse. 
Your voice naturally falls four times, thus, " I woVider'd 
lonely as a cloud" and in every line it falls the same 
number of times. The fact that there is a fixed and 
regular number of accents in each line makes it verse 
and not prose, and to write correct verse you must keep 
to a regular recurrence of accents in your lines. A line 
to which you naturally give three accents is said to 
have three feet; four accents, iouvfeet, etc. A foot or 
pattern of syllables which is repeated to make up the 
line consists of an accented syllable and one or more 
unaccented ones. The foot is named according to the 
arrangement of syllables in it, but it is not necessary 
for you now to know the names, which come from the 
Greek and are hard to remember, Four of the best- 
known feet are mentioned here, with examples. The 
accented syllable is marked • and the unaccented w. 



I wandered lonely as a cloud. Iambic \_\j •]. 

Tell me not in mournful numbers. Trochaic [ / w]. 



But we steadfastly gazed on the face that was dead. 
Anapestic \_\j \j ']. 

Bird of the wilderness, blithesome and cumberless. 
Dactylic [/ \j \j~\. 

These names refer to the arrangement of syllables in 
the foot. There are other names that refer to the 
number of times the foot is repeated in the line. These 



236 EL KM EXT A 11 V COMPOSITION 

also come from the ( J reek and are long and, difficult, but 
are no more necessary for you to learn now than the 
names of feet. If you can pick out the arrangement of 
syllables which make up a foot, and the number of feet 
in a line, yon can make a pattern for yourself out of 
any piece of poetry. The names and examples of the 
most common meters are here given for reference, 
however. 

1. Three feet to the line, three-accent line or trimeter. 

His voice no more is heard. 

2 Four feet to the line, four-accent line or tetrameter. 

Build me straight, worthy Master. 

.'5. Five feet to the line, five-accent line or pentameter. 

w y \j / \j ' \j , 

At last, with head erect, thus cried aloud. 

1. Six feet to the line, six-accent line or hexameter. 

The Nymphs in tangled shades of twilight thickets mourn. 

Turn to any collection of poetry, and see how many 
of 1 he feet and meters you can recognize. You will find, 
although the accent gradually recurs after a regular 
number of syllables, that it does not invariably do so; 
but yon will also notice that this does not aflfect the 
rating of the line. For instance, you give three 
! " the Line, -And I would that my tongue could 
utter," where there are ten syllables, but you also give 
fchr * l,) the line, "Break, break, break." You must 
,,,;irn < therefore, to distinguish one variety of meter from 
mother by the number of times your voice naturally 
1,1;ik,> iin ftOCent in reading it aloud; but for your own 



VERSIFICATION 237 

verse making it is a simpler and better rule to arrange 
your line so that there is the same number of syllables 
between each accent. You will find this a very general 
rule in all poetry, and it is a good guide for beginners. 
You can take, then, any piece of poetry which you ad- 
mire and make from it a pattern for yourself. Suppose 
you wish to write a verse describing a rainy day. You 
turn to Whittier's Snow-Bound as a suitable model : — 

The sun that brief December day 
Eose cheerless over hills of gray, 
And, darkly circled, gave at noon 
A sadder light than waning moon. 

Reading the lines aloud, you see that they have four 
accents or feet, and each foot has two syllables, the 
second of which is regularly accented. Marking the 
accented and unaccented syllables as shown above, and 
then taking away the words, you have left a pattern 
by which you can test your own lines, namely ^ — kj — 
w _ w _. Now, if you wish to write in metrical or verse 
form the statement that the rain resounding on the roof 
sounded as though a great many little drums were be- 
ing beaten, you might write, — 

The rain drummed loud as though the elves 
Were playing soldier. 

Your idea is now completely stated, and if you were 
writing prose you could stop there ; but on consulting 
your pattern you see that you need one accented syllable 
to finish the last foot you have written, and one more 
foot to finish your last line. In your effort to add 



238 ELEMENTARY COMPOSITION 

these three syllables, arranged in words which will com- 
plete the picture your lines suggest, you will readily hit 
upon some such phrase as overhead, on the roof, in a 
r,/, or noisily. 

You will then have written two lines of correct verse; 
hut in comparing them with the first two lines ol Snow- 
o/,/. your model, you will notice one difference. Of 
the last words in each pair of lines from Snow-Bound 
all hut the first consonants are the same and have the 
-tine sound. These are called rhyming words. Nearly 
all verse rhymes. Words are considered to rhyme when 
they have the same accented vowel sound, different con- 
Bonants preceding the accented vowel sound, and the 
same sounds following the accented vowel sound. One 
stumbling-block in the way of beginners in verse mak- 
ing is the fact that English words are spelled so 
differently from the way they are pronounced. Do 
not he misled by this. Remember that it is the 
anted vowel sound that must be the same in both 
words, and test your rhymes by saying them aloud. 
dim- vessel and wrestle, despair and bare, gaze and bays, 
bird and heard) rhyme perfectly, although they look so 
very different, bxxtdoor and boor are not good rhymes, 
although they look just alike, nor are trough and bough, 
and through and plough. Rhymes usually occur at the 
end of lines, hut not always, as in Snoiv-Bound, at the 
•lid of each pair of lines. 

Jusl ilables are arranged in feet and feet are 

d in lines, so lines are arranged in stanzas. 
The shortest stanza Is two lines rhymed. This is called 
mplet. 



VERSIFICATION 239 

Poets themselves must fall, like those they sung, 
Deaf the praised ear, and mute the tuneful tongue. 

Somewhat more rarely, there are stanzas of three 
lines, called triplets, with all the lines rhyming. 

Dark, deep, and cold the current flows 
Unto the sea where no wind blows, 
Seeking the land which no one knows. 

The most common form of English verse is written 
in stanzas of four lines each. The rhymes may be ar- 
ranged in all the combinations possible. The first and 
third and the second and fourth may rhyme, as in 
ballads : — 

Brignal banks are wild and fair, 
And Greta woods are green ; 
And you may gather garlands there 
Would grace a summer queen. 

Or the first and fourth lines and the second and third 
may rhyme : — 

Now rings the woodland loud and long, 
The distance takes a lovelier hue ; 
And drowned in yonder living blue 
The lark becomes a sightless sound. 

Or the second and fourth lines may be the only ones 
to rhyme : — 

He prayeth best who loveth best 
All things both great and small, 
For the dear God who loveth us 
He made and loveth all. 



240 ELEMENTARY COMPOSITION 

In longer stanzas the rhymes may be arranged in 
almost any way, provided that they follow some regular 
plan. Notice, for instance, the arrangement of rhymes 
in Browning's well-known song: — 

The year's at the spring 
And day's at the morn ; 
Morning's at seven ; 
The hillside's dew-pearled ; 
The lark's on the wing ; 
The snail's on the thorn: 
God's in his heaven — 
All's right with the world. 

A convenient way of indicating briefly how the rhymes 
in a stanza are arranged is by the use of the letters of 
the alphabet: thus, a couplet would be said to have its 
rh vines arranged a a; a quatrain like the Brignal banks, 
a b a b; the stanza Now rings, abba. 

There are, of course, many other combinations of syl- 
lables in feet, of feet in lines, and of lines in stanzas than 
have been given here, but these are the most common 
forms and those that you will be most likely to see in 
your reading and to use in your verse making. 

Exercise 142. — 1. Arrange the following in stanza form, letting 
yourself be guided by the recurrence of a regular number of feet in 
each line and by the rhyme. 

1. Tiger, tiger, burning bright in the forests of the night, what 
immortal hand or eye could frame thy fearful symmetry? 

2. The Bhip was cheer'd, the harbor clear'd, merrily did we 
drop belon the kirk, bekw the hill, below the Light-house top. 
The sun came up upon the left, out of the sea came he, and he 
shone bright and on the right went down into the sea. 



VEBSIFICATION 241 

3. We watched her breathing through the night, her breathing 
soft and low, as in her breast the wave of life kept heaving to and 
fro. Our very hopes belied our fears, our fears our hopes belied — 
we thought her dying when she slept and sleeping when she died. 

4. Where the bee sucks, there suck I ; in a cowslip's bell I lie ; 
there I crouch when owls do cry. On the bat's wing I do fly after 
summer merrily. Merrily, merrily, shall I live now under the 
blossom that hangs on the bough. 

5. I loved the brimming wave that swam through quiet meadows 
round the mill, the sleeping pool above the dam, the pools beneath 
it never still, the meal sacks on the whiten'd floor, the dark round 
of the dripping wheel, the very air around the door made misty 
with the floating meal. 

II. Complete the rhymes in the following : — 
When I was sick and lay a-bed 

I had two pillows at my 

And all my toys beside me lay 
To keep me happy all the . 

How do you like to go up in a swing 

Up in the air so blue ! 
Oh, I do think it's the pleasantest 

Ever a child can 

Through all the pleasant meadow-side 

The grass grew shoulder high 
Till the shining scythes went far and 

And cut it down to 

The fight did last from break of day 

Till setting of the 

For when they rang the evening bell 

The battle was scarce 

In summer time in Breton 

The bells they sound so clear. 
Round both the shires they ring them 

In steeples far and 

A happy noise to 






2 1 2 EL EMENTAET COMPOSITION 

An excellent exercise for training your ear is to have 
some one read verse aloud to you, leaving you to com- 
plete the rhymed lines. 

You have now learned a few simple rules about the 
construction of two or three of the most common forms 
of verse, and you may ask yourself what use you can 
make of them. 

( >ne way in which you can employ verse is in writing 
a short story or incident. The simplest anecdote is 
often so set off by telling it in verse that its interest 
is doubled; and you will find this sort of familiar, con- 
versational verse unexpectedly easy to write. One 
very good variety of story to tell in verse is the 
fable : — 

Miss Grasshopper having sung 
All through summer, 
Found herself in sorry plight 
When the wind began to bite ; 
Not a bit of grub or fly 
Met the little wanton's eye ; 
So she wept for hunger sore 
At, the Ant, her neighbor's door, 
Begging her just once to bend, 
And a little grain to lend 
Till warm weather came again. 
u I will pay you," cried she, then, 
u Ere next harvest,, on my soul, 

Entered and principal." 

<h< 4 Ant is not a lender. 
Prom thai charge who needs defend her? 
•■ Tell me what you did last summer?" 

Said she to the beggar maid. 



VERSIFICATION 243 

" Day and night to every comer 
I was singing, I'm afraid." 
" Sing ! Do tell ! How entrancing ! 
Well then, vagrant, off ! be dancing ! " 

Exercise 143. — See if you can complete The Hare and the Tortoise 
from the beginning and the skeleton given below. 

How everybody laughed to hear 

The hare had planned a race 
Against the tortoise, patient, dull, 

And very slow of . 

The hare assured them one and all, 

" It's but that I may show 
That I can sleep till near the dusk 

And beat the — w — 

— w — ran like the wind 
And almost reached the goal, 
v^ — v> — amid the hay 
And slept, the lazy ! 

\j — \j — the hare still slept 

\j — \j passed him by, 
\j — \j — kj — again 

It was too late to try 

To reach the goal, or win \j — 

The tortoise by my troth 
kj — \j — \j steadiness 

\j — \j — \j sloth. 

Exercise 144. — Try to put into verse, on this model, The Fox 
and the Grapes, The City Mouse and the Country Mouse, The Wolf 
and the Lamb, The Frog and the Stork, The Woodchopper and 
Death, The Goose that laid the Golden Eggs, — or any other 
fable you have known in prose. 



244 ELEMENTARY COMPOSITION 

Sometimes it may be interesting to you to try to 
write a Letter or to send an invitation in verse. Some 
of the greatest writers have amused themselves by mak- 
ing such playful use of verse in letters. Here is part 
of a Letter written from India by Bishop Phillips 
Brooks to his little niece. 

Little Mistress Josephine, 

Tell me, have you ever seen 

Children half as queer as these 

I Jabies from across the seas ? 

See their funny little fists, 

See the rings upon their wrists. 

One has very little clothes, 

One has jewels in her nose ; 

And they all have silver bangles 

On their little heathen ankles. 

In their ears are curious things, 

Bound their necks are beads and strings, 

And they jingle as they walk, 

And they talk outlandish talk : 

Do you want to know their names ? 

()nr is (idled Jee Fingee Hames ; 

One Buddhanda Arrich Bas, 

One Teehundee Hanki Sas. 

Aren't you glad then, little Queen, 

Thai your name is Josephine? 

That you live in Springfield, or 

No! al least in old Jeypore ? 
.That your Christian parents are 
; !ii and Eattie, Pa and Ma? 

That you've :m entire nose 

Ami no rings upon your toes? 

In word, thai Hat and you 

Do n<>( have to be Hindu ? 



VERSIFICATION 245 

Exercise 145. — 1. Try writing a rhymed letter, describing an 
expedition in which you have taken part, — a railway journey, a 
picnic, a ride. Or write an invitation, from your class to the class 
below, to a spelling match, or entertainment you are giving. 

2. Read The One-Hoss Shay, John Gilpin's Ride, Lochinvar, 
The Legend of Bishop Hatto, The Falcon — or any poem you know 
which tells a story, and try your own hand at turning into verse 
one of the stories you wrote in your study of narration. 

The uses of verse which have been pointed out as 
possible to you are not out of the question for any one 
who can write at all. This is verse making and not 
poetry. But there may be times when you find that 
you can say what you mean better in a few words of 
verse than in many of ordinary prose, that you can 
express some aspect of out of doors, or some sensation, 
more vividly in verse than in any other way. You 
will notice that words seem often to have a greater 
force and life in poetry than in prose, and if you 
make use of this quality, you will be writing real 
poetry. 

For instance, one day a third-grade class was asked 
to write a description of the conditions that morning in 
the woods near the school. It had rained and snowed 
the night before and everything was coated in ice. 
The wind was high and, shaking the branches violently, 
sent down a continuous shower of tiny pieces of ice, 
glistening in the sun and tinkling on the ice-covered 
snow. Many long compositions were written in the 
attempt to describe the effect such a day made on the 
observer; every one agreed that a little boy, eight years 
old, who wrote the following lines, had best expressed 
the singular spirit of the morning : — 



246 ELEMENTARY COMPOSITION 

The trees are all so silvery 
And the fairies dance around ; 
They make a pretty tinkle 
As they step upon the ground. 
They dance upon the tree tops 
And dance upon the ground. 

Of course, that is not perfect verse, but it has a 
quality of real poetry in it. 

You cannot expect great results from your verse mak- 
ing, but you will certainly profit by some practice in 
managing meters. You will have a greater interest in 
the construction of the poetry you read, you will have- 
greater ease in writing prose, and you may perhaps suc- 
ceed in expressing some feeling of your own in a simple 
stanza which will be worth writing for its own sake. 



CHAPTER XVII 

PUNCTUATION 

95. General Theory of Punctuation. — Punctuation is 
a way of showing by various signs (or points) which 
words in a written composition bear a close relation 
to one another. Read, for example, the following 
passage : — 

As Pandora raised the lid, the cottage grew very dark and 
dismal ; a black cloud had swept over the sun, and seemed 
to have buried it alive. But Pandora, heeding nothing of 
all this, lifted the lid nearly upright, and looked inside. 
It seemed as if suddenly a swarm of winged insects brushed 
past her, taking flight out of the box, while at the same 
instant she heard a voice. It was that of Epimetheus, as if 
he were in pain. 

" Oh, I am stung ! " cried he. " I am stung ! Naughty 
Pandora ! Why have you opened this wicked box ? " 

The period at the end of the first sentence shows that 
all the words preceding it are to be taken together. 
Notice the similar use of the other periods. 

Notice the semicolon which is used to separate the 
two clauses of the first sentence. Each clause is com- 
plete in itself and might be taken separately ; yet they 
are sufficiently related to be included in one sentence. 
The semicolon is therefore used to show a slighter sepa- 
ration between the thoughts than would be indicated 
by the use of the period. 

247 



248 ELEMENTARY COMPOSITION 

The commas show a still slighter separation, being 
used to divide the lesser groups of words. Notice this 
use of the two commas in the first sentence. In the 

tond sentence the commas before and after "heeding 
nothing of all this" show that these words belong to- 
gether, and that "But Pandora" belongs to "lifted the 
lid," etc. 

Notice the use of the interrogation point and the 
exclamation point in the last paragraph. 

These various marks, then, are used to help the 
reader. They show the grammatical structure or group- 
ing. Let us now study these marks in detail, beginning 
with those that indicate the close of the larger groups, 
— the period, the exclamation point, the interrogation 
point. 

96. The Period. — The period marks the end of a 
declarative or imperative sentence. 

The period is also used after an abbreviation. (For 
a list of common abbreviations, see p. 267.) 

97. The Question Mark. — The question mark is placed 
at the end of every direct question. It is not used with 
an indirect question. 

Shall 1 gff? 

I ask you, "Shall I go?" 

ked whether I should go. 

98. The Exclamation Point. — The exclamation point 
is aged after exclamatory words, phrases, and sentences. 
When an exclamatory sentence begins with an interjec- 
tion, it is usually sufficient to place a comma after the 
interjection and to reserve the exclamation point until 



PUNCTUATION 249 

the end of the sentence. When an unemphatic inter- 
jection begins a declarative sentence, it is frequently 
possible to omit the exclamation point entirely. As a 
rule is used only in direct address. 

Help ! You rascal ! Be off with you ! 

Ah, you are back again } 

Oh, what a mess I have made of it ! 

Oh, I didn't see you. 

Hear me, King ! Oh ! I am wounded ! 

99. The Semicolon. — Semicolons have two uses: — 
1. To separate the principal clauses in a compound 
sentence. 

To our left we beheld the towers of the Alhambra bee- 
tling above us ; to our right we were dominated by equal 
towers on a rocky eminence. 

Some suppose them to have been built by the Eomans ; 
others, by the Phoenicians. 

He received only ten guineas for this stately, vigorous 
poem ; but the sale was rapid and the success complete. 

There was now a sound behind me like a rushing blast; 
I heard the clatter of a thousand hoofs; and countless 
throngs overtook me. 

When his men had thus indemnified themselves, in some 
degree, for their late reverses, Cortes called them again 
under their banners; and, after offering up a grateful 
acknowledgment to the Lord of Hosts for their miraculous 
preservation, they renewed their march across the now 
deserted valley. 

The principal clauses in a compound sentence may 
also be separated by a comma, provided that a coordi- 
nate conjunction is present. 



250 ELEMENTARY COMPOSITION 

It was a moonlight night, and the fresh north wind rus- 
fcled solemnly in the palm trees. 

We examined their sculptures by the aid of torches, and 
our Arab attendants kindled large fires of dry corn-stalks, 
which cast a strong red light on the walls. 

The forehead and nose approach the Greek standard, 
but the mouth is more roundly and delicately carved, and 
the chin and cheeks are fuller. 

When a coordinate conjunction is not present, it is 
incorrect to separate such clauses by a comma. See § 6. 

When a coordinate conjunction is present, and the 
choice lies between a comma and a semicolon, the 
semicolon is to be used: — 

(a) When the writer wishes the break or separation 
between the principal clauses to be emphatic. 

(J) When the principal clauses are long and 
;il ready divided into their parts by commas. 

2. To separate clauses or phrases from each other in 
a series of similar phrases or subordinate clauses, when 
commas would not be sufficient to indicate clearly 
where each clause or phrase began and ended. 

We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are 
created equal ; that they are endowed by their Creator with 
inherent and inalienable rights; that among these are life, 
liberty, and the pursuit of happiness; that to secure these 
rights governments are instituted among men, deriving 
their just powers Erom the consent of the governed; that 
whenever any Form of government becomes destructive 
of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to 
abolish it, and to institute new government, laying its 
foundations on such principles and organizing its power in 



PUNCTUATION 251 

such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their 
happiness. 

Exercise 145. — (1) Find three sentences in which the principal 
clauses are separated by the semicolon. (2) Write three such 
sentences of your own composition. (3) Write three sentences in 
which the semicolon is used to separate similar phrases or subordi- 
nate clauses in a series. Let the sentences be of your own com- 
position. 

100. The Colon. — The colon indicates that what 
follows it is an explanation or specification of what 
precedes it. It is used: — 

1. To introduce a list, a quotation, or an explana- 
tory proposition. When the explanation begins a new 
paragraph, a dash is usually placed after the colon, as 
in the second sentence of this section. 

He provided himself with the following books : Worces- 
ter's dictionary, a Latin grammar, an atlas, and a Bible. 

We hold these truths to be self-evident : that, etc. [See 
example under § 99, 2 above.] 

He read, on a marble tablet in the chapel wall opposite, 
this singular inscription: "Look not mournfully into the 
past." 

2. In a compound sentence in which the principal 
clauses are not connected by a conjunction, to show 
that the following clause explains or illustrates the 
preceding clause. 

I am no traveler : it is ten years since I have left my 
village. 

The general refused to believe him : the risk was too 
great. 



252 ELEMENTARY COMPOSITION 

3. After such phrases of address as Bear Sir, 1 
Ladies and Gentlemen, etc. 

Exercise 147. — I. Write five examples of your own composition 
of (1 ) ; live of (2) ; and three of (3). 

II. Explain the use of the semicolons and colons in the 
following : — 

1. Sin has many tools; but a lie is the handle which fits them 
alL 

2. In Bryant's To a Waterfowl, we find the following lines: — 

k * lie who, from zone to one, 
Guides through the boundless sky thy certain flight, 
In the long way that I must tread alone, 
Will lead my steps aright." 

3. Speech is silver ; silence is gold. 

4. There are three great virtues : faith, hope, and charity. 

101. The Comma. — As we have seen, the period is 
used to close a declarative sentence, and the semicolon 
and colon are used to mark off the greater divisions 
of a sentence. The office of the comma is to point off 
the smaller divisions of a sentence. It is used in the 
following ways: — 

1. In a compound sentence, to separate the different 
clauses, when there is not a sufficient break in the 
thought to make the semicolon necessary. See above, 
§99, L 

lit* rested himself in the Chancellors room till the debate 
commenced, and then, leaning on his two relatives, he limped 
to bis seat. 

1 At the beginning of a Letter, Dear Sir may be followed by (1) a 
eomi . comma and a dash, or (8) a colon, it should never be 

followed by ,1 semicolon. (8) is more formal than (2) and (1). 



PUNCTUATION 253 

His exertions redeemed his own fame, but they effected 
little for his country. 

2. To separate the different parts of a compound 
predicate, unless the connection between them is very 
close. 

The slightest particulars of that day were remembered, 
and have been carefully recorded. 

He lost the thread of his discourse, hesitated, repeated 
the same words several times, and was so confused that, in 
speaking of the Act of Settlement, he could not recall the 
name of the Electress Sophia. 

I see and hear you. 

3. In a complex sentence in which the dependent 
clause precedes, to separate the dependent clause from 
the principal clause. When the dependent clause fol- 
lows, the comma is, as a rule, not needed. 

If you are wise, you will trust him implicitly. 

Although I saw him, I could not wait. 

I would not stop until he called out to me. 

4. To mark off an explanatory relative clause. 

Note. — Relative clauses may be roughly divided into explanatory- 
clauses and restrictive clauses. An explanatory relative clause de- 
scribes or gives information about its antecedents. A restrictive 
relative clause narrows the meaning of its antecedent. An explana- 
tory clause might usually be omitted without affecting the thought of 
the principal clause. A restrictive clause cannot usually be omitted 
without affecting the thought of the principal clause. No comma is 
used before a restrictive clause. 

Examples, (a) Explanatory Clauses. — 1. The twenty- 
four columns, each of which is sixty feet in height, are 
oppressive in their grandeur. 



254 ELEMENTARY COMPOSITION 

2. Beyond lay various other apartments, which receive 
no light from without. 

3. This churchman rode upon a well-fed, ambling mule, 
whose bridle was ornamented with silver bells. 

1. His companion, who was a man past forty, was tall 
and muscular. 

(//) Restrictive Clauses. — 1. The two who rode foremost 
were persons of importance. 

2. This is not the book that I ordered. 

.'5. There is no reason which can be urged in favor of such 
a bill. 

1. Such was the appearance of the man who was about 
to receive into his hand the destinies of half the world. 

5. We walked through the inner halls under the spell of 
a fascination which we had hardly power to break. 

5. In general, to indicate the beginning and the 
end of a group of words, whether a phrase or a clause, 
which must be regarded as a unit, particularly if it 
occurs parenthetically. 

Let us go together through the low gateway, with its bat- 
Oemsnted top and small window in the center, into the inner 

road. 

And now I wish that the reader, before I bring him into 
8t MarVs Place, would imagine himself in a little English 

town. 

6. To separate similar words or phrases used, in a 

in the same construction, and not joined by 
conjunctions. 

It was d«.nc quickly, neatly, artistically. 
It was done quickly and neatly. 
Se was a big, hearty, happy fellow. 



PUNCTUATION 255 

The horse was a quiet, sensible old beast. [Here quiet 
and sensible limit old beast, not beast alone.] 

He was gay and jovial, gloomy and despondent, as the 
weather indicated. 

If the members of the series are joined by conjunc- 
tions, commas are unnecessary. When, however, a 
conjunction joins the last two members of the series, 
the comma is employed. 1 

Bread and butter. 

She was good and true and beautiful. 

They visited Rome, Florence, and Venice. 

7. To indicate the omission of words logically nec- 
essary to the construction. 

One was tall ; the other, short. 
Admission, twenty-five cents. 

8. To mark off phrases when they open a sentence 
or are not closely connected with the context. Phrases 
occurring in their usual places and closely connected 
with the context are, however, not marked off by 
commas. 

Following the dim path, we proceeded slowly. 

On his arrival in England, he found himself an object of 
general interest and admiration. 

With rare delicacy, he refused to receive this token of 
gratitude. 

The case was heard, according to the usage of the time, 
before a committee of the whole house. 

1 The usage of many writers and publishers, however, is to omit 
commas in such cases; that is, they prefer " a, b and c," to "a, 6, 
and c," The latter usage, as described above, is followed in this book. 



25G ELEMENTARY COMPOSITION 

From a child he hated the English. 

He refused with emphasis this token of gratitude. 

9. To mark off adverbs and adverb phrases which 
have a connective force. Notice the difference between 
(a) " you will see, then, that you have been misled," 
and (b) u you will then see that you have been misled." 

This, on the other hand, was his purpose. 
My mission, too, is one of peace. 
He recalled, however, his motive. 

10. To mark off words or phrases (a) in direct address 
or (b) in apposition. Notice, however, that in expres- 
sions like "the Emperor William," William is rather a 
noun limited by Emperor than a noun in apposition 
with Emperor. 

(a) I do not understand you, sir. 

I apologize, ladies and gentlemen, for my apparent dis- 
courtesy. 

(b) His romantic novel, the Castle of Otranto, is now 
unread. 

I le is like me in this, that he cannot resist entreaty. 

11. Before a direct quotation. See the more formal 
use of the colon, § 100, 1. 

I !•' k<'j)i crying, " ( )n ! on ! " 

As he ltll, he heard some one say, " There goes another." 

12. In dates, addresses, as in the following exam- 
ples : — 

Jan. 1, 1899. 

Dr. ('. II. Smith, Salem, Essex County, Mass. 1 

1 on ;in envelope it La becoming customary to emit all punctuation 
at the end of Lines, except periods after abbreviations. 



PUNCTUATION 257 

13. To prevent ambiguity or to make a sentence 
more easily understood. 

Exercise 148. — I. Write two sentences (of your own composition) 
illustrating each of the uses described in the preceding section. 

II. Give reasons for the marks of punctuation used in the 
following : — 

One day, when he was looking for wild flowers, of which 
he was very fond, he heard a rustling in some thick bushes 
near by, and saw that some animal was moving among them. 
He took his gun and fired, and, going to the place, found 
that he had shot a lion's cub. 

When his colored gun-bearer saw this, he screamed with 
terror, and ran away shouting, " Run, Benana ! run ! " 
Almost at the same instant, Bishop Hannington heard a 
fearful roar; turning, he saw a huge lion and a lioness 
rushing furiously towards him. 

III. Supply commas where needed, giving reasons. 

In Holland children have very few playthings. The 
shoes are shaped very much like the canal-boats of the coun- 
try. The children recognize this fact and have a custom of 
sailing them on the water. This is fine sport except when 
the little craft is loaded with too many stones causing it to 
sink and insuring them punishment from their parents. 

I was told of a small lad who going out one morning to 
sail his wooden shoe put into it his knife a small brass can- 
non a top and some marbles that had been given him on the 
previous Christmas. 

His tiny vessel which had a paper sail ran firmly until an 
old man came down to the canal to dip up a pail of water. 
This made such waves that the heavily laden shoe was over- 
whelmed and sank suddenly before the knife or cannon or 
marbles could be rescued. 



258 ELEMENTARY COMPOSITION 

102. Parentheses and Brackets. — Parentheses are to 
inclose explanatory matter which is independent of the 
grammatical construction of the sentence. Brackets 
have the same general office, but are generally used only 
to inclose corrections, explanations, or similar matter, 
introduced by the author into the statement of some 

one else. 

Prescott (1796-1859) was a brilliant historian. 

It is said (and I can believe that it is true) that many 

still believe in witches. 

It was at that moment [10 a.m.], the colonel goes on to 
say, that his superior officer [General Smith] met him. 

103. The Dash. — The dash is used to indicate a sud- 
den change in thought or construction. Two dashes 
have the general effect of parentheses. 

Yes — no — I scarcely know what to say. 

You were saying that — 

I suppose — but why should I tell you ? 

His father, his mother, his brothers, his sisters, — all are 
dead. 

At last he succeeded in opening the box and found in it — 
not hin--. 

He had two constant motives — love of man and love of 
God. 

The two motives — love of man and love of God — were 
constant. 

104. The Apostrophe. — The apostrophe is used (1) to 
indicate the omission of a letter or letters, (2) in form- 
in- the possessive east', and (3) in forming the plurals 
«»t" Letters and figures. 

Don't, shan't, o'er, John's, horses', his abe's. 



PUNCTUATION 259 

105. Quotation Marks. — Double inverted commas 
indicate that the inclosed matter is a quotation. Sin- 
gle inverted commas indicate a quotation within a 
quotation. Double quotation marks are also some- 
times used to indicate the title of a book, magazine, 
or newspaper, or the name of a ship. See also 
§ 106. 

A direct quotation is one in which the exact words 
of a speaker or writer are repeated. When a direct 
quotation is broken by words of the author, each part 
of the quotation should be inclosed in quotation 
marks. 

A short informal quotation, if it constitutes a sen- 
tence, is preceded by a comma or a comma and a dash. 
If a quotation is long, or if it is desired to give it with a 
little more formality, it may be preceded by a colon. 
If the quotation begins a paragraph, it is preceded by a 
colon and a dash. See § 100, 1. 

" To be or not to be." 

The word " coward " has never been applied to me. 
" Sir," said I, " you insult me." 
I said to him, " Sir, you insult me." 

This was his reply : " I tell you that he said only last 
night, < You will never see me again/ " 

This " History of English Literature " is worth reading. 
The wreck of the " Polar Star." 

An indirect quotation repeats the thought of some 
speaker or writer without giving his exact words. 
Quotation marks are not used to indicate indirect 
quotations. 



260 ELEMENTARY COMPOSITION 

[Direct quotation] "Well, my boys," said Mr. Webster, 
« I will be the judge." 

[Indirect quotation] Mr. Webster told his boys that he 
would be the judge. 

Exercise 149. — Rewrite the following story, Daniel Webster's 
First Case, changing the direct quotations to indirect and the 
indirect quotations to direct: — 

The father of Daniel Webster was a farmer. His garden 
bad Buffered somewhat from the visits of a woodchuck that 
lived in a hole close by. One day Daniel and his brother 
Ezekiel set a steel trap for the trespasser, and caught him 
alive. And now the great question was, "What shall be 
done with the rogue ? n 

" Kill him/ 3 said Ezekiel. 

"Let him go," said Daniel, looking with pity into the 
eyes of the dumb captive. 

"No, no!" replied Ezekiel, "he'll be at his old tricks 
again." 

The boys could not agree; so they appealed to their 
father to decide the case. 

" Well, my boys," said Mr. Webster, "I will be judge. 
There is the prisoner, and you shall be counsel, Daniel for 
lii 111 and Ezekiel against him. It rests with you whether 
the woodchuck shall live or die." 

Ezekiel opened the case. The woodchuck, he said, was 
a thief by nature. He had already done much harm, and 
would do more, it' he were set free. It had cost a great deal 
of labor to catch him. It would be harder to catch him a 
►nd time; for he would have gained in cunning. It was 
better on every accounl to put him to death. His skin would 
be worth something, although it would not half repay the 
damage he had done. 



PUNCTUATION 261 

The father looked with pride upon his son, little dream- 
ing, however, that he was then showing signs of that power 
that made him so sound a jurist in his manhood. 

" Now, Daniel, it is your turn. I'll hear what you have 
to say." 

Daniel saw that the argument of his brother had sensibly 
moved his father the judge. The boy's large, black eyes 
looked upon the timid woodchuck, and, as he saw the poor 
thing trembling with fear, his heart swelled with pity. 

God, he said, had made the woodchuck. He made him 
to live, to enjoy the air and sunshine, the free fields and 
woods. The woodchuck had as much right to live as any 
other thing that breathes. God did not make him or any- 
thing in vain. He was not a destructive animal like the 
wolf or the fox. He ate a few common things, to be sure ; 
but they had plenty of them, and could well spare a part. 
And he destroyed nothing except the little food needed to 
sustain his humble life. That little food was as sweet to 
him, and as necessary to his existence, as was the food on 
their mother's table to them. 

God gave them their food. Would they not spare a little 
for the dumb creature that really had as much right to his 
small share of God's bounty as they themselves to theirs ? 
Yea, more; the animal had never broken the laws of his 
nature or the laws of God, as man often did, but had strictly 
lived up to the simple instincts that had been given him by 
the good Creator of all things. Created by God's hands, he 
had a right from God to his life and his liberty, and they 
had no right to deprive him of either. 

The young orator then alluded to the mute but earnest 
entreaties of the animal for his life, as sweet, as dear to 
him, as their own was to them ; and to the just penalty 
they might expect, if, in selfish cruelty, they took the life 



262 ELEMENTABY COMPOSITION 

they could not restore, — the life that God Himself had 
given. 

During this appeal for mercy tears had started to the 
lather's eyes, and were fast running down his sunburnt 
cheeks. Every feeling of his manly heart was stirred within 
him, — gratitude for the gift of so eloquent and noble a boy, 
pity for the helpless and anxious prisoner at the bar. 

The strain was more than he could bear. While Daniel 
was yet speaking, without thinking that he had won his 
case, his father sprang from his chair, and, in entire forget- 
fulness of his character as judge, exclaimed to his elder son, 
" Zeke ! Zeke ! let that woodchuck go ! " 

Sometimes you may wish to quote, not a whole sen- 
tence, but a word or two. Such a partial quotation 
should be inclosed in quotation marks, but you should 
not begin it with a capital or place a comma before it, 
unless the comma is needed there for some other reason. 

She was "born to blush unseen." 

We listened with pity to this tale of " man's inhumanity 
to man." 

Exercise 150. — Construct sentences using the following partial 
quotations : — 

" Waste her sweetness on the desert air," " simple and heart -felt 
lay," of - night's caudles," "lowly thatched cottage," -sweet bells 

nut of tllll''." 

Exercise 151. — Rewrite the following so that you will have in 
each Instance a quotation within a quotation. Von will be obliged 
t" make introductions using the name of the author. 

!■ Had it not been the season when " no spirit dares stir 
abroad," I should have been half tempted to steal from my 
roomat midnight— Washington [rving. 



PUNCTUATION 263 

2. The story-teller paused for a moment and said, " There 
is no situation in life but has its advantages and pleasures." 

— Diedrich Knickerbocker. 

3. We are in that part of the year which I like best — 
the Eainy or Hurricane Season. " When it is good, it is 
very, very good ; and when it is bad, it is horrid." 

— Robert Louis Stevenson. 

106. Italics. — The term "italics" refers to a spe- 
cial kind of type used in printing ; thus, italics. Or- 
dinary type is referred to as "roman." In writing, 
a single line drawn underneath a word is understood 
to be the equivalent of italics. Italics are used for 
(1) words especially emphasized, for (2) words from a 
foreign language, and, sometimes, as in this volume, for 
(3) names of books, newspapers, magazines, and ships. 
See § 105, % 1. 

To his amazement, he saw footprints. 

The carriage rolled away from the porte-cochere. 

His History of English Literature. 

The wreck of the Polar Star. 

107. The Hyphen. — The hyphen is used as fol- 
lows : — 

1. Between the parts of some compound words, 
son-in-law, simple-hearted, vice-president. With regard 
to many words, usage varies. The tendency is to omit 
the hyphen and write the words as one, e.g. football, 
horsecar. According to some authorities, compound 
numerals and fractions retain the hyphen, e.g. tiventy- 
nine, one hundred and thirty-first, tivo-thirds. 

2. To separate two vowels which are not pronounced 



264 EL EM EN Tu 1 11 T COMPOSITION 

together, e.g. pre-eminent, co-operation. The diaeresis is 
frequently used for the same purpose, e.g. preeminent. 

3. To mark the division of a word at the end of a 
Line. Usage varies as to the way in which many words 
shall be divided. The subject can be best studied by 
noticing the practice of good printers. The pupil may 
bear iii mind, however, (a) that he should not divide 
words of only one syllable ; (J) that he should be 
guided by pronunciation ; (e) that syllables should 
begin, if possible, with a consonant. For example, 
photog-raphy, Napo-leon, litera-ture. 

Exercise 152. — Make up three illustrations each of proper uses 
of fche question mark, the exclamation point, parentheses, brackets, 
the dash, fche apostrophe, double quotation marks, single quotation 
marks, italics, the hyphen. 

108. Capitals. — The pronoun /and the interjection 
u are writ tun with capital letters. Capital letters are 
used at the beginning of words as follows: — 

1. The first word of a sentence, a line of poetry, and 
a direct quotation. 

ii Making his rustic reed of song 
A weapon in the war with wrong." 

His last Avoids were : "Mother is coming." 
" Bun/' he said, "there is still time." 

2. Names and titles of the Deity and personal pro- 
nouns referring to Him, e.g. the Almighty, the Holy 
Spirit, Tpray that He will aid me. 

8. Proper nouns and adjectives, including names of 
Btreets, the months, the days, races, sects, parties, 
nations, and pans of the country. For example, John 



PUNCTUATION 265 

Smith, Broadway, New York City, February, Sunday, 
Christmas, Indian, Episcopalian, Democrat, English, the 
South. Notice that negro and gypsy are not begun with 
capital letters. 

Personal titles, whenever they are equivalent to 
proper nouns. In compound titles, each part begins 
with a capital. 

The President and the Governor of Ehode Island are here. 
The Attorney-General of the United States. 

4. The first word in the title of a book, article, or 
composition and every noun and adjective in the title, 
but not other words. When a verb or adverb is an im- 
portant or prominent word in the title, it may also be 
begun with a capital. 

The Spy ; a Tale of the Neutral Ground. 

Under the Eed Eobe. 

Sketches, New and Old. 

Teaching Kequires Knowledge and Skill. 

5. Personified nouns, and names of great events or' 
bodies of men. 

" While sallow Autumn fills thy lap with leaves." 
It was a cold day in autumn. 1 
At the beginning of the Revolutionary War. 
While the Legislature is sitting. 

Exercise 153. — I. Construct sentences containing in all 
twenty words that should begin with capital letters. 

II. Which words in the following sentences should begin with 
capitals? Why? 

1 Notice that the names of the seasons do not begin with capitals 
unless they are personified. 






266 ELEMENTAJEtT COMPOSITION 

1. Be added, with a look of curiosity, "you must be a 
stranger." 2. "I like/' said he, "to lie down upon the 
grass." 3. In 1827 he entered the senate, serving there 
until the president appointed him secretary of state. 4. At 
length I reached fourth street. 5. It was easter morning. 

6. Be has always voted the republican ticket. 7. There 
arc more negroes in the south than in the west. 8. No 
one imagined that he would make a good emperor. 9. The 
king died on tuesday. 10. I shall see you this summer. 

Exercise 154. (Review). — Insert in the following sentences the 
proper marks of punctuation : — 

1. It was a dull dark gloomy day. 2. He was a rosy 
laced smiling and cheerful young gentleman. 3. Some of 
us were disappointed others overjoyed. 4. A pretty little 
white dog came running up to me. 5. Samuel the young- 
of the three was by far the tallest. 6. My letters have 
brought no response consequently I have ceased writing. 

7. Well Philip I am glad to see you again. 8. With hearty 
thanks for your kindness to me a stranger I am my dear sir 
your obedient servant John Smith. 9. Now Wegg said Mr. 
Boffin hugging his stick closer I want to make an offer to 
you. 10. The champion moving onward ascended the 
platform. 

1 1. Al the Sourish of clarions and trumpets they started 
out at Full galop. 12. The lake greatly to my surprise 
Led as far off as before. 13. Terrible as was his anger 
he still Bpoke calmly. 14. To make a long story short I 
Id never find a trace of him again. L5. His expressions 
too w.-iv frequently incorrect, 16. After the fourth encoun- 
ter however there was a considerable pause. 17. However 
OUg you may be you must not waste your strength. 
18. My friend who is called Sir Roger came at once to see 



PUNCTUATION 267 

me. 19. The person who comes last must start first. 
20. He that read loudest was to have a half-penny. 

21. ISTone was so dissatisfied as Cedric who regarded the 
whole scene with scorn. 22. The message which I wished 
to send is simply this. 23. I will never do not interrupt 
me I will never consent to such a plan. 24. As often as he 
came and he came very often he stood long at the gate before 
entering. 25. Though they dwelt in such a solitude these 
people were not lonely. 26. If you insist I will speak 
frankly. 

27. At ten o'clock the great war chief with his treacher- 
ous followers reached the fort and the gateway was 
thronged with their savage faces. 28. Some were crested 
with hawk eagle or raven plumes others had shaved their 
heads leaving only the fluttering scalp-lock on the crown 
while others again wore their long black hair flowing loosely 
at their backs or wildly hanging about their brows like a 
lion's mane. 29. Their bold yet crafty features their cheeks 
besmeared with ocher and vermilion white lead and soot 
their keen deep-set eyes gleaming in their sockets like 
those of rattlesnakes gave them an aspect grim uncouth and 
horrible. 30. For the most part they were tall strong men 
and all had a gait and bearing of peculiar stateliness. 

109. List of Common Abbreviations. — The following 
is a list of common abbreviations, particularly those of 
foreign words or phrases. Abbreviations of names of 
states and other very familiar abbreviations are omitted. 

A.B. or BA. (Latin, Artium Bac- a.m. (Latin, ante meridiem), 

calaureus), Bachelor of Arts. before noon. 

A.D. (Latin, anno clomini), in the anon., anonymous. 

year of our Lord. B.C., before Christ. 

A.M. or M.A. (Latin, A rtium Mag- Bp., Bishop. 

ister), Master of Arts. Capt., Captain. 






ELEMENTARY COMPOSITION 



cf. (Latin, confer), compare. 

C.O.D., collect on delivery. 

Col., Colonel. 

cor. sec, corresponding secretary. 

D.D., Doctor of Divinity. 

e.g. (Latin, exempli gratia), for 
example. 

Esq., Esquire. 

etc. (Latin, et cetera), and so 
forth. 

F. or Fahr., Fahrenheit (ther- 
mometer). 

F.R.S., Fellow of the Royal 
Society. 

Gov.. Governor. 

H.R.H., I lis Royal Highness. 

Hon., Honorable. 

ibid. (Latin, ibidem, " in the same 
place"), a term used in foot- 
notes, in reference to a book 
just mentioned. 

i.e. (Latin, id est), that is. 

inst. (Latin, mense instante), the 
present month. 

jr. or jun., junior. 

Lieut., Lieutenant. 

LL.D., Doctor of Laws. 

M. (Latin, meridiesX noon. 

M. ( French, Monsu '//•), Mr. 

Maj., Major. 

M.C., Member of Congress. 

M.D. (Latin, Medicines Doctor), 

I ^OCtor <'f Medicine. 

Mile. (French, Mademoiselle), 

Mi 



MM. (French, Messieurs), used 
as the plural of M. 

Mme. (French, Madame), Mrs. 

MS., manuscript. 

MSS., manuscripts. 

N.B. (Latin, nota bene), mark 
well. 

p., page. 

percent. (Latin, per centum), by 
the hundred. 

p.m. (Latin, post meridiem), after 
noon. 

pp., pages. 

Prof., Professor. 

pro tern. (Latin, pro tempore), for 
the time being. 

prox. (Latin, proximo), next 
month. 

P.S. (Latin, post scriptum) , post- 
script. 

Q.E.D. (Latin, quod erat demon- 
strandum), which was to be 
proved. 

Rev., Reverend. 

R.R., Railroad. 

Rt. Rev., Right Reverend. 

sr. or sen., senior. 

Supt., Superintendent. 

ult. (Latin, ultimo), last month. 

U.S.A., United States army. 

U.S.M., United States mail. 

U.S.N., United States navy. 

vid. (Latin, vide), see. 

viz. (Latin, videlicet), to wit, 
namely. 



APPENDIX 

A. EULES FOR SPELLING 

I. For dropping or retaining the final e. 

1. Words ending in e, preceded by a consonant, 
usually drop e on taking a suffixf beginning with a 

vowel. 

move moving 

believe believing 

conceive conceiving 

receive receiving 

achieve achieving 

2. Words ending in ue drop e on taking a suffix. 

argue arguing 

fatigue fatiguing 

Exception : vague, vaguely, vagueness. 

3. Words ending in e retain e on taking a suffix 
beginning with a consonant. 

move movement 

large largely 

hoarse hoarseness 

peace peaceful 

4. Words ending in ce or ge retain e on adding able, 

ably, or ous. 

change changeable 

courage courageous 

notice ■ noticeable 

outrage outrageous 
269 



sense 


senseless 


whole 


wholesome 


remorse 


remorseless 


advertise 


advertisement 



270 ELEMENTARY COMPOSITION 

II. For doubling the final consonant. 

1. Words of one syllable (and words of more than 
one syllable if accented on the last syllable), ending in 

jingle consonant preceded by a single vowel, double 
the first consonant before a suffix beginning with a 
vowel. 

thin thinner forgot forgotten 

Blap slapping trot trotting 

acquit acquitting begin beginner 

2. When the accent is thrown back upon another 
syllable, after the derivative is formed, the final con- 
sonant is not doubled. 

refer reference prefer preference 

3. When preceded by two vowels, the final con- 
sonant is not doubled. 

toil toiling keep keeper 

III. For final //. 

1. Words ending in y, preceded by a consonant, 
retain y before a suffix beginning with i; on taking a 
suffix beginning with any other letter, y is in most 

& changed to i. 

cry | crying lazy laziness 

&y fiying duty dutiable 

try trying happy happiness 

2. Words ending in y, preceded by a vowel, retain 
// before a suffix. 



buy buying gray 

play playing stay stayini 

joy joyful obey obeying 



grayness 

g 



APPENDIX 271 

B. MODEL OF CONSTITUTION 
Article I. Name. — This club shall be known as the 



Article II. Object. — Its object shall be the 

Article III. Officers. — Its officers shall be a president, 
a vice-president, a secretary, and a treasurer. There shall 
also be committees of each. These offi- 
cers and committees shall be elected by the club at each 
annual meeting, as provided for in the by-laws. 

Article IV. Meetings. — The club shall hold an annual 

business meeting on , and a regular meeting every 

None but members shall be present, except as 

provided in the by-laws members shall consti- 
tute a quorum. Special meetings may be called by the 
president upon the written application of members. 

Article V. Membership. — 

Article VI. Dues. — The [annual] dues shall be 

payable on 



BY-LAWS 

Article I. Duties of Officers. — Section 1. President 
and vice-president. — The President shall preside at meet- 
ings of the club and shall The vice-president 

shall preside at meetings in the absence of the president and 
shall 

Sect. 2. The Secretary. — The secretary shall keep a 
correct record of all meetings and shall 

Sect. 3. The Treasurer. — The treasurer shall receive 
and pay out all money, subject to the order of the club, and 
shall keep a correct account in detail of all receipts and 
expenditures, and shall render a report in writing at the 
annual meeting. 



272 ELEMENTARY COMPOSITION 

r. 4. Standing Committees. — The duties of the 
committees shall be as specified below 

Article II. Election of Members. — 

Article III. Visitors. — 

Article IV. Programme of Meetings. — 

Article V. Amendments. — This constitution may be 
amended at any regular meeting of the club by a two-thirds 
vote of the members present, provided that written notice of 
the intended change has been given at the previous meeting. 



INDEX 

(The numerals refer to pages.) 
I. SUBJECTS TREATED 



Advertisements, 135. 

Appeals, 133. 

Argument, general principle of, 214 ; 
the introduction, 215 ; the reasons, 
217; the outline, 220; the plea, 
221; other forms of, 221. 

Autobiography, 140. 

Biography, 142. 

Clause, denned, 4; dependent or 
subordinate, 4; independent or 
principal, 5. 

Condensation, 67; method in, 71. 

Description, observation necessary 
in, 155 ; general scientific descrip- 
tion, 158; specific scientific, 162; 
use of technical terms in, 163; 
literary description, 164; of peo- 
ple, 169; longer description, 172; 
description of conditions, 174; 
by contrast, 176; of events, 177; 
picture making of scenes of action, 
179; description of travel, 182; 
descriptions of an hour, 185. 

Diary, value of, 106; contents of, 
107; imaginary diaries, 109; class 
diaries, 109. 

Expansion, 78 ; purpose of, 79. 

Exposition, general principles of, 
199; explanation of a material 
process, 201 ; of games, 204 ; of ab- 
stract ideas, 208 ; by example and 
comparison, 208 ; by repetition, 
210 ; by contrast, 211 ; by a figure 
of speech, 211. 

Figures of speech, 59. 

History, 144. 



Invitations, formal, 122. 

Letters, various kinds of, 112; 
friendly, 113; of social inter- 
course, 119; formal invitations, 
122; telegrams, 123; business let- 
ters, 125. 

Metaphor, 59. 

Narration, essentials of a good 
narrative, 137 ; autobiography, 
140; biography, 142; history, 144; 
plain reporting of facts, 150 ; con- 
versation, 152; travel, 182; histor- 
ical stories, 188 ; fictitious stories, 
191 ; the beginning of a narrative, 
193 ; the ending, 196 ; the body, 197. 

Notices, 130. 

Oral composition, 102. 

Outlines, 92, 98, 220. 

Paragraph, defined and described, 
29 ; beginning of or topic sentence, 
30 ; unity in, 35 ; body of, 37 ; too 
many paragraphs, 41 ; end of 
paragraph or summary sentence, 
42; arrangement in a whole 
composition, 96. 

Paraphrase, 80, 84. 

Petitions, 134. 

Phrase, defined, 4. 

Pronunciation, 104. 

Punctuation, 246. 

Quotations, how punctuated, 44, 259. 

Secretarial work, 225. 

Sentence, distinguished from phrase 
and clause, 4; simple, complex, 
and compound, 7; variety in the 
use of sentences, 14, 19; length 



273 



274 



ELEMENTARY COMPOSITION 



of, H; periodic, 17; loose, 18; 

bad, 21, 22, 23, 25; "comma" 

sentence, 2'J : with and without 

unity, 'J.'»; formless, 25. 
Simile, B9. 
Slang, 63. 
Spelling, (52. 
Synonyms, 53. 

rams, 123. 
Travel, 182. 

Unity, in sentences, 23; in para- 
phs, 35 ; in whole compositions, 

97. 



Versification, 234. 

Vocabulary, size and character of 
English, 50; increasing one's vo- 
cabulary, 50. 

Whole composition, 88: outline of, 
92, 98, 220; arrangement of para- 
graphs in, 96; essentials of, 97; 
how to plan a, 98. 

Words, 49; vocabulary, 50; syno- 
nyms, 53; choice of words, 55; 
accuracy in the use of, 58 ; errors 
in the use of, 62. 



II. ILLUSTRATIVE EXTRACTS 



Addison, Joseph, The Spectator, 209, 

212. 
Ames, Azel, How the Pilgrims Came 

to Plymouth, 144. 
Baldwin, James, A Story of the 

Golden Age, 30. 
Bryant, William C, To the Fringed 

Gentian, 158. 
Buckley, Arabella, Fairyland of 

Science, 70. 
Burroughs, John, Locusts and Wild 

Honey, 1B6; Squirrels and Other 

Far-bearing Animals, 192. 
Cooper, Jamefl Fenimore, The Pilot, 

71. 
Dickens, Charles, A Child's History 
England, 89, 7.",, 177, 188; David 

Copperfield, W7, 169, 186. 

Pranklln, Benjamin, Autobiography , 

L3, 

Garland, Hamlin, Main - traveled 
Roads, 171. 

Lady, Through Portugal, 

Hardy, Thomas, Far from the Mad- 
ding Crowd. 179, 

Hawthorne, Nathaniel, Mosses from 
an < >m Manse, 

Thomas, Tom Brown's 
Schooldaj 

[rving, Washington, Rip Van Win- 
Ue, >a, m, B2 ; l-i 



Columbus, 83; Stratford-on-Avon 

(The Sketch-Book), 88. 
Kane, Elisha E., Arctic Explora- 
tions, 70. 
Leavitt, R. G., Outlines of Botany, 

158. 
Lockyer, J. N., Astronomy, 92. 
Long, William J., Ways of Wood 

Folk, 31. 
Longfellow, Henry W., The Court- 
ship of Miles Standish, 82; The 

Bridge of Cloud, 83; Walter Von 

der Vogelweid, 85. 
Lowell, James R., The Vision of Sir 

Launfal, 84. 
Main, E., Cities and Sights of Spain, 

204. 
Merriam, Florence A., Birds through 

an Opera Glass, 160, 162. 
Motley, J. L., Correspondence, 170. 
Nicolay, Helen, The Boys' Life of 

Abraham Lincoln, 32. 
Park man, Francis, The Conspiracy 

of Pontiac, 180. 
Preseott, William H., The Conquest 

of Mexico, 82. 
Sheridan, Richard B., The Rivals, 58. 
Tnorean, Henry D., Excursions, 165. 
Whit tier, John G., The Barefoot 

Boy. 
Yonge, Charlotte M., A Book of 

Golden Deeds, 93. 



AUG 20 1906 



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